


Inky Extras

by Mercowe, ThisAnimatedPhantom



Category: Animaniacs, Bendy and the Ink Machine, Cuphead (Video Game), Disney Cartoons (Classic)
Genre: A strong shipper will reside here, AU, Adventure, Angst, Bendy and Boris are siblings, Bendy and Boris in the Inky Mystery, Bonus Material, Character added as the story goes, Diary/Journal, Extra Stuff for Anyone Who Loves the Inky Mystery!, F/M, Ink illness, Inquisitive Character, Lore/History Buff, Magic, Mystery, Relationships will be revealed through the story, Runes, babtqftim, black and white world, sidestory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-27 11:02:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 84
Words: 296,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14424036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercowe/pseuds/Mercowe, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisAnimatedPhantom/pseuds/ThisAnimatedPhantom
Summary: This is a collection of bonus material for Bendy and Boris in The Inky Mystery. It will mostly be Holly's Journal about what is happening in Toon Town while the boys are on their quest. It will also include What If stories and side stories about non-main characters. Enjoy!





	1. August 1, Monday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These little journal entries say Tap wrote them, but they're actually by me, Mercowe! 
> 
> Yep! We put them up on my (TAP) account and didn't feel like switching. (Waaaaaay too lazy for that) so know that all of Holly's journal entries are the wonderful Mercowe's! She deserves the credit! She has done a lot of work the past few months so when I saw the mix up...whelp...
> 
> (Mercowe) By the way, that first line was written by Tap, not me...
> 
> Oh shush! You deserve some recognition for all your hard work and I felt terrible that you weren't going to get it. You weren't going to claim it so I'm throwing it on you! Take it! TAKE MY PRAISE!
> 
> (Mercowe) *Backs away slowly with hands raised.* Okay, Tap, calm down. You're making stuff fly around in the room. 
> 
> *^* ...sorry. Anyway! Enjoy the extras! Let us know what you think! 
> 
> (Mercowe) Yes! Enjoy!

Dear reader,

I don’t know who will end up reading this journal in the future. Maybe it will never be read. Maybe I’ll shred it myself as ridiculous, but I realized recently how important records are, and so I have become determined to keep an account of my thoughts.

Now, to make sense of what I am about to talk about, you need to know a few things. I am an ancient languages and culture major here at Yen University. It had always been my wish to learn from a bird named Wilson Wiseton. My father used to tell me about Wiseton's research as a child and listening to those stories was the first time I learn about runes.

However, the semester I finally succeeded in getting accepted into my program, Wilson Wiseton was accused of murder and disappeared. I confess, I quite fell apart that semester. How could that be true? But all the evidence the newspaper gave to his condemnation was damning. I was naive.

I realized that today after an experience I had this afternoon. A year ago, I took a class from Dr. Ryan Oddswell. Also a year ago, similar to what happened to Professor Wiseton, Oddswell was accused of experimenting on students and was fired from the school. I have to be honest, I wasn’t as skeptical when it came to Oddswell being fired. That lizard is a strange reptile. Smart as anyone I’ve ever met, but strange. I probably would have left it at that in my mind, but today a pair of boys approached me when I was working the front desk at school, a demon and young wolf. They weren’t students. I could tell because they both had backpacks on and looked a bit travel worn, sort of like they needed a good meal and a long nap.

They were looking for Oddswell.

That startled me a bit because the accusations against him had reminded me of Professor Wiseton. It made me feel a little guilty that they were looking for him when everyone else, including me had just written him off as a mad scientist. (He _is_ a mad scientist in my opinion, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the accusations against him are true.)

These...feelings are probably the reason that I ended up giving them his old address. I know. I know. What I did was against policy, not to mention slightly illegal. To make things even worse, Shelly talked to me after work and told me that there’s a rumor going around that a wanted demon and wolf were wandering around campus today. Who else could those two be, but the people from Shelly’s rumor?

I’ll have to do some research. There must be some sort of newspaper article on them if there are rumors like this going around. What if the everything the papers said Oddswell did are true and those boys are helping him to do it? On all accounts, I shouldn’t have done what I did. However, the thing I can’t shake is how strange it is that two professors have been accused of crimes and fired in the last year and a half. That stinks like it’s no coincidence. Yen University isn’t that kind of school, and Wilson Wiseton was no murderer.

I still sort of want to tear my hair out now though. If anyone knew I gave those boys that address, I could lose my job for helping them. At the moment it really did seem like the right thing to do. They were so sincere. I mean that wolf really has some puppy eyes...And they both looked so happy when they walked underneath the runes. They didn’t look that way when they walked in the doors, I can tell you.

 


	2. August 6, Saturday

I can’t believe it!

Remember those boys I gave Oddswell’s address to? Well, I was talking to Shelly, and she told me that some guy showed up asking about them at the school today. He even had posters with their faces on them. I didn’t work today, but apparently he talked to some of my coworkers, and they told him that they saw me talking to the boys. He left me his card. He is a journalist from Toon Town Times. Jeremy Fairfax.

I’m still torn about this whole issue. I can't deny the fact that it simply felt right to help those two boys. On the other hand, I’d like to learn a little more about them. Maybe he can give me a little more information.

I’ve waded through a bunch of different papers in the past few days. There was a short article on how this gentleman and his wife spotted them on the train coming to Toon Town, but it doesn't go into specifics as to why they were wanted. It just mentions that the police want them for questioning. I found the gentleman who wrote the article, and he mentioned a few newspapers in other cities that have reported on the boys. It’s hard to get information from out of town, so I’m waiting for some that I ordered to come in. My only other option would to be to visit the places where these things happened, and with work I simply don’t have that sort of flexibility. So, the fastest way for me to try and glean a little more information is to meet with this journalist and see if he knows anything more than the last one did. I think I will try and talk with him.

I really hope this doesn’t bite me in the butt.  

On an interesting side note, while I was looking through all those newspapers, I read this article about how a couple zanies fought near the old train tracks in town. I sort of want to meet them. I've heard so many strange things about zanies that I think learning about them would be a wonder. Even if they don't make logical sense, considering how amazing their powers are, it would be cool to watch them in action. 

 


	3. August 8, Saturday

Dear reader,

After meeting with Mr. Fairfax, I’m afraid I have a lot to learn, especially about people. When I initially met him, my impression wasn’t all that bad. He was very polite and took me to a cafe for the interview. He even surprised me with how many questions he let me ask before he asked me any. I found out that those boys have been accused for a various collection of crimes: arson, involvement with local Warnerburg troublemakers, and a theft ring...even murder. Ultimately, however, what started to make me nervous was how he seemed to be putting words in my mouth. It was almost like he was trying to force me to say that I thought those boys were bad people. But I couldn’t. I never got that impression from them.

After I got that bad feeling, I decided to tell him that I didn’t want my name in his article, or any quotes. I expected him to get upset, but he just ended up staring at me. It honestly spooked me, and when I left the cafe, I could still felt his eyes on my back. Yet, he can’t do anything to me. I just need to remain strong and remember that I probably won’t ever see him again.  


	4. August 9, Tuesday

It bit me in the butt.


	5. August 10, Wednesday

Things were very busy yesterday, so I didn’t really have enough time to fully explain what happened, but Fairfax showed up at my work. He kept on asking me more and more detailed questions about those boys.

Finally, I had to tell him that we’d already had our interview, and he was causing a commotion on school grounds. He told me that he thought I knew more about those boys than I was saying. I told him if he wanted to know more about them, he should go and talk to them himself. That’s when he told me that there was an official warrant out for their arrest. He accused me of protecting wanted murderers.

Unfortunately, at that point, I ended up losing my temper and told him that the school runes hadn’t reacted to them like they were murderers at all, and I trusted the runes much more than some cheeky faced reporter.

This could cause me trouble. Although I put a lot of stock in the runes, many people don’t and the way I spoke did sound like I was protecting them. Argh. I don’t know what I’m doing.

I need to do some more research on what’s going on. At this rate, Fairfax might bring me legal trouble. I have to be sure I did the right thing telling that reporter to leave.


	6. August 11, Thursday

Fairfax showed up at my class today. This guy is now officially stalking me. Since my last journal entry, he has called me throughout the evening and early morning every day, knocked on my door constantly when he knows my roommate is gone and generally spread rumors of a distasteful nature about me around campus. Shelly told me that one of her classmates called me a witch yesterday. Apparently, I’m now part of an occult group that worships the devil and uses runes to do his evil bidding.

Runes aren’t evil!! They can be used for evil things, but they are more a tool than anything else. That sort of attitude is what keeps progress from happening in our world. We could do amazing things if we had more people who understood runes and researched them in more depth. We might be able to save people with fatal diseases or discover other worlds out there. Their potential is, literally, almost endless.

Anyways, today while he was sitting behind me in class, quite literally breathing down my neck, I have to be honest, I started having fantasies about taking a tennis racquet to his face. Also, considering his temperament, I doubt he will stop with this harassment any time soon. This leaves me with a few different options. I could try and approach Fairfax with a police officer, but the man can be very charming, so I don’t know if an officer would believe me. Also, if he accuses me of helping those brothers, I’m not sure I could lie to an officer. I hate lying in general, and even lying to Fairfax has left a bad taste in my mouth.

*Addition, later in the day.

Fairfax saw me writing in my journal after class. Now I’m slightly terrified.

I had just been sitting on a staircase writing (After I thought I’d lost him, mind you.), when he just popped up behind me. It nearly sent me down the stairs.

“What are you doing?”

Then he saw the journal. His expression at that moment reminded me of two things. A smile I would imagine the devil would wear on a productive day and the hunger of a starving teenage boy after seeing a steak.

I swear if I have nightmares tonight I’m gonna buy a shotgun.     

I now realize that maybe I have some pent up aggression I need to deal with.


	7. August 12, Friday

I didn’t end up buying a gun, but I did get some pepper spray. I was actually going to give up on the idea because I know I wouldn’t actually have the heart to shoot that man, even if he is harassing me. However, when Shelly brought up the issue (she’s been very patient about the phone calls at night) and I told her what else that man had been doing, she recommended I get the spray. I may not be willing to shoot anyone, but I have no qualms about spraying a schmuck in the face with pepper.

I’m writing part of today’s entry in the bathroom at home right now, because I’m afraid at this point that if I bring my journal to school Fairfax will try and steal it. I know exactly what he is after. He probably thinks that I withheld something from him about those boys and if he looks in it, he’ll get the evidence he needs. Well...I guess he is right, but, ha! The joke is on him. I’m leaving my journal in this apartment in a rune warded drawer. I also warded the book itself, so if he ever does get his grubby paws on this, he’ll get a faceful of pepper spray. Have fun J-boy!


	8. August 19, Friday

I am such a dumb dora. I even saw it coming. I’m too tired to explain much more tonight. It’s late, and I just barely got my journal back.


	9. August 20, Saturday (About August 12, Friday)

Okay. There’s so much that’s happened over the last week, that I’m not sure where to start. From the beginning, I guess? However, note reader, that from this moment on I’m going to try and be as detailed as possible. I made a serious decision today. It’s one that might get me in a lot of trouble. Argh. I might even put myself in physical danger, but at this point I literally have nothing else left to lose. Nothing I care about. I was expelled from school. I lost my job. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. So, this is how it started.

Nine o’clock last Wednesday morning, like I told you before, I finished writing in my journal, put it in my drawer and activated both runes...I know I did. And I know they were good ones.

I walked to school, and on the way there, I noticed an abandoned newspaper. Really, even now, I can’t believe I didn’t see this paper sooner. Earlier, I had done some research on Oddswell and those two boys, but then I got distracted by Fairfax's harassment.

The article was about some of the things Fairfax had told me when I first met him. It mentioned how Oddswell got arrested recently for experimenting with drugs. What Fairfax failed to mention is that there was a young woman working for Oddswell who was assaulted, a one “Miss Red Riding Hood”. That piqued my interest. Oddswell is one of the most difficult people to work with that I’ve ever met. It just doesn’t seem characteristic that he’d have some assistant, especially a young nurse.

Not to mention, they said he was messing with medical drugs, specifically. Oddswell's interests range pretty far. He doesn’t usually hold himself to one topic. If he got fired for his crazy experiments, why would he restrain his research to one topic, the type of which required him to be in contact with a lot of people? People who could decide to mention that he’s doing illegal things. Which is exactly what happened! It said in the article that one of his patients was the person to call the police on him. I would have expected him to see something like that coming.  

I think that figuring out Oddswell’s connection to those boys is the key I need to figure out what they were doing--to whether they are really good people. Argh! Thinking about it now, why did I have to stick my big nose into this whole mess? Why do I care whether they were good people? I made a mistake. Wouldn’t it have been better to go to the school and tell them what I'd done, admit I made a mistake? I don’t know.

Anyways, seeing this newspaper gave me an idea. I wanted to know more about those boys, so I figured the best way to find out more about them would be to go and see Oddswell himself, or this young nurse who was assaulted.

This in mind, I went to school. I attended my anthropology class, and surprisingly, I didn’t see Fairfax there. My teacher had gotten angry at him the last time he showed up, so it was a happy surprise. I assumed that he wasn’t there because the teacher had kicked him out. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, I was wrong.

After anthropology, I went to dig etiquette and had a good play in the dirt. With that finished, I went to the hospital. Finding a way to go and see Oddswell in jail is going to be a difficult thing to do (I have yet to do it). I surmised that seeing Miss Riding Hood would be easier physically, although it would be harder to convince her to talk to me.   

I did a little research on the assault by looking through some newspapers cataloged in the library. I found a public statement by the police on how she had been taken to the hospital. This told me two things: one, the house they brought her from was the house that I sent those boys to, and two, considering how severe her injuries were, I guessed that they would have taken her to the nearest hospital.

I went to that hospital and even found the floor she was staying on. This, however, presented me with a new problem. There were two guards posted outside her door. One was a skinny cheetah and the other was a lanky wolf.

I had to get creative here.

Cheetah’s and wolves both have good ears. In fact, they have better hearing than almost anyone else. With this in mind, I sat in the lobby and drew an altered version of a rune called The Horn of Pursuit. It’s one of those odd runes, whose original purpose is unclear. It plays music miles away from its source. To make it useful, I made two changes. First, I added a nearness rune to make it play closer. Second, I added a pitch rune to make the notes higher.

That done, I used a mirroring rune on myself (which reflects my surroundings) and waited.

The noise got to the wolf first. He shifted uncomfortably and messed with his ear for a few minutes until the cheetah started to hear it too. It was only after they both went cross-eyed that the wolf went to the nurse’s station to try and find out what it was. With both of them distracted, I opened the hospital door and slipped into the room.

Right into a bunny nurse.

We slammed into each other, and I instantly lost control of my mirroring rune. Luckily, since she was looking down when she walked out, I don’t think she realized I was invisible.

“What the stars?!” We both landed on our backsides, and she dropped her clipboard.

She looked at me. “What do you think you are doing?”

I, being the refined and completely coordinated person that I am, gaped like a landed fish.

“You can’t come in here!” She looked at the nurse station, where the wolf and cheetah were. “Officers, why do we even have you here? Do your job!”

I ran.

I was able to get out of there pretty quick, otherwise I’d have to add arrest to the list of bad things that have happened to me lately.

At this point, it was getting late in the day, and I was pretty tired. I headed home, another spectacular failure underneath my belt. I was actually thinking about how good it would feel to write in this journal that night when I got to my apartment. I let myself in, said hi to Shelly, and went in my room to write before eating.

That’s when I saw the open drawer.

I don’t know how Fairfax did it. It was just...open. No marks. Not even the satisfaction of a good layer of pepper spray in the room. Nothing. It was just gone.

Horsefeathers. I’m tired now. I’ll continue writing tomorrow.


	10. August 21, Sunday (About August 13-16, Saturday-Tuesday)

I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a situation like this, reader, but when I saw the journal gone, I freaked out. I’d never even been called to the principal's office during high school, much the less done something that could get me fired. I was afraid. I didn’t want to get in trouble. Pff. I didn’t want to get in trouble...I got into a lot more than trouble...

Anyways, I turned my bedroom inside out (I don’t know why, it’s not like Fairfax was going to go to the trouble of stealing my diary from the drawer, only to hide it in my closet.).

In the end, I sat on my bed and started to cry. Shelly came in and tried to comfort me, but I didn’t have the courage to tell her what had happened. She made me dinner, and I went to sleep.

Thinking about it now, maybe Shelly would have had an easier time if I’d just fessed up to her all that happened.

Saturday morning, Fairfax’s article was printed, labeling me not only a B-Brothers supporter, but insinuating that I had connections to the mob as well.

Saturday afternoon the school called me.

You have to be in a lot of trouble for the school to call you on a Saturday.

Things flew pretty quickly from then on. I met with the school's disciplinary counsel on Monday morning, and they were straightforward with their inquiry.

Had I given out confidential information while at work?--Yes. Yes, I did.

Was I in collusion with the mob or the B-Brothers?--No. I didn’t even know them. I just gave the brothers the address because they looked like they were so desperate. And do I look like I could work with the mob? I’m a toothpick! (That’s what I was thinking. I didn’t actually say that last part.)

Was I aware that this was against work policy?--Yes.

Why didn’t I go to my supervisor and admit it?--I was afraid. Especially after the newspapers started publishing news articles that they were murderers.

Did you share any sensitive information with the Toon Times reporter?--Define sensitive? I told him the B-Brothers came up to me and asked where Oddswell was. Nothing else.

How did he know you gave them the address?--...He broke into my apartment and stole my journal.

Do you have any proof of this?--No. All I know is that now my journal is gone.

Do you have any connections to Dr. Oddswell and his experiments?--No. Last time I saw Oddswell was when he was fired?

Oh, so you knew Oddswell?--...I took his class?

The interview went downhill from there (Even more downhill than it already was.). Next thing I knew, I was stumbling out of the room in a daze with no job, no longer a student.

I didn’t even bother mentioning the runes.

Haaaaaaa. This is depressing stuff. *Slaps cheeks.* Head up, head up!!!

One good thing did come from this, however. After spending the rest of Monday in my bedroom, curled up in a depressed ball of angst, I got up on Tuesday morning and started to stalk Fairfax.

I don’t think you understand how important going to college is to me. I literally gave up everything to be able to attend Yen University. I worked until I was bone tired, studying to get in. I left home, practically disowned, because I wouldn’t give up on my dream of becoming an expert on runes someday. I don’t care about having a fancy, high-paying job. I don’t care that many people who research runes struggle because the study is dangerous. I don’t care that practically no one takes runes seriously.

I was going to show the world how much better things could be with them. Argh!!! Dumb Dora, I probably sound so stupid and naive.

Well. I was worried about losing my job, but I didn’t expect to be expelled from school, I can tell you that.

Fairfax was going to pay.

My first thought Tuesday morning was, “Is there a rune that makes people go bald?” That is literally the frame of mind that I woke up in, and it only got worse from there.

My second thought was, “Why is someone pounding on my door? It couldn’t be Fairfax, could it? He got what he wanted.”

I got up, and Shelly was already at the door. She stood in the doorway, dripping wet as someone raced down the apartment stairs, cackling.

“Curse yourself, you mob witch!”

I was mortified. I raced to the bathroom and got a towel as she closed the door. That’s when I discovered that it wasn’t even clean water they’d thrown. There were little flecks of dirt, leaves, and other things I didn’t recognize covering her.

This ultimately led to the question why people were coming to our apartment door and throwing storm drain water in her face (If it was storm drain water). I broke down and told Shelly everything.

This also led to me realizing that now I was out of a job, I had no money to pay for rent next month. This left Shelly less than thrilled by the entire thing. I can’t really blame her, though. She’d had dirty water thrown in her face, been told her roommate was defamed, and found out that I couldn’t help pay for next month’s rent all in one morning.  

I wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d asked me to move out, or if she’d moved out. But, she didn’t. Instead, she told me that since I didn’t have much money, I could have any leftovers she had (She’s big on cooking, not so much on eating what’s left after the first night.). Then she went to go take a shower before her class.

I got dressed and went out, careful to check if there were any other nasty surprises waiting for me outside. Thankfully, it was all clear, and I even made it most of the way to my locker unnoticed. I’d forgotten to clear it out on Monday, but I had some important books in there, so I felt it was worth the social awkwardness of anyone recognizing me.

Arriving at my locker, I discovered that I shouldn’t have bothered. The door was wide open, and it was empty. I stood there for a minute, staring. It seemed like lately I just couldn’t keep people from taking my stuff.

That’s when I noticed an overstuffed trash can nearby. Even from where I was standing, I could see my encyclopedia of basic runes and my textbook on famous dig site discoveries, along with a bunch of my notebooks.

“Aren’t you the girl from that newspaper article last weekend?”

I jumped. A boy and girl had stopped, and the expression on the girl’s face was one of disgust.

“I don’t appreciate what you did. Professor Wilson was a good teacher, a good person.” She had tears in her eyes. Her words sort of stabbed me in the chest. I couldn’t answer, so I grabbed my rune book and my notes on it and fled.

After that, I sat at a table in a cafe, staring at the wall and drinking water until the owner (This big, loud guy name Pete.) started to complain about the B-Brothers, specifically how incompetent the cops were and “Why hadn’t they caught them yet?”    

I slunk out the side door.

It was at this point, that I made up my mind. I had been expelled and there was little to no chance that any other university would take me after the accusations that Fairfax made in his article. Being expelled for accidentally helping criminals--redeemable. Being expelled for working with the mob--not so redeemable.

I had to find some proof that Fairfax’s news was mostly bologna. This raised a particular question in my mind, though. I had done the research, and although I was still waiting for some of those out of town newspapers I'd ordered to arrive, I’d noticed that much of the information published on the boys had been written by Fairfax. If he could put bologna in my sandwich, then he could put it in their’s too. My feeling about them could be right.

I went home, put on a headscarf, and changed into a modest dress that my mother had always accused of making me look like a washed out housewife.

Then I went to the Toon Times building and waited.

I sat there for most of the day, watching people go in and out until finally, just as the sun was going down, I saw Fairfax exit the front door.

It instantly annoyed me. He was walking with his hands in his pockets, chin in the air. There was almost a skip to his step. He passed a couple of girls on the street and winked at them. They giggled. I scowled and once again wondered about if there was a rune that caused baldness.

Fairfax went down the street and got on the nearest bus. I (much to my sorrow) paid the fare as well and got on. Once he got off, he went to a flower boutique and picked up a bouquet of roses. We got on and off the bus again. That’s when we arrived in front of a ritzy apartment. It was a ten story building, next to the Toon Town Gardens. There was a red carpet leading to the lobby, with a doorman standing in front. The edges of the building had those fancy designs that you mostly only see in nice playhouses. There was razzle dazzle everywhere.

Seeing this fancy place, I instantly grew self-conscious of my housewife dress and headscarf. It didn’t help that the door man gave me a pitying look. Figuring it wouldn’t be best to linger, I entered an old antique shop on the opposite side of the street and pretended to consider a little teacup and a mug that had been placed in the display window.

Another half an hour later, Fairfax emerged again. He had on a nice suit with a little handkerchief tucked in the pocket. He carried the roses and what I realized were, unfortunately, car keys. There was no way I could follow him in a car. There was no contest. I watched in despair as he walked down the street and got into a shiny Rolls Royce.

Whistling, he drove away.

I stood in the antique shop for a minute, frustration welling within me. He'd gotten the better of me again, and he didn't even know I was there! I had to take a few deep breaths and go look at the old book section for a good five minutes before I realized something. I now knew where Fairfax lived. I highly doubted that Fairfax would have left my journal somewhere in the Toon Times building. Although, I couldn’t throw out the idea that all those journalists might be corrupt. However, it was far more likely that Fairfax had taken my journal to his apartment, which meant that now I had somewhere to start. I could get my journal back, even find some proof that Fairfax was a slandering liar...Maybe even try and see what he really knew about those two boys.  

That settled in my mind, I decided. Somehow, some way, I was going to get inside that apartment.


	11. What If...Alice Had Banished Bendy to Hell?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if when Alice first met Bendy she had banished him to hell? This was inspired by a comment Insecuriosity made on Chapter 31.

“Ow!” Bendy sat up. “What the hell? Where am I?” Bendy growled as he looked around. Last he remembered he was arguing with that angry barkeep doll, Alice. Then there was a flash of light, and he was falling.

The sky was red…No wait, it was a ceiling, but there were volcanoes in the distance. What in the world? Bendy blinked as he pulled himself to his feet. Ostentatious white and gold pillars held up the bright ceiling…sky? Bendy wasn’t sure. The place smelled of smoke and sulfur.

“Well, who do we have here?” a deep voice growled with amusement. Bendy spun around and gasped. A tall, large creature sat in a throne of gold and red. He was thin, furry, and dark. Two horns curled from his head, and his eyes glowed an unearthly yellow, except for the two black pupils. A huge and not-so-friendly smile stretched across his round head. The darkness rolling off him made Black Hat seem like a grumpy kitten in comparison.

Bend gulped. “W-who are you?”

The being raised an eyebrow and chuckled. His voice seemed to shake the space around him. “Why, I’m the Devil, sonny.” Bendy took a half step back. “Now, who are you? I know most demons, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around.”

Bendy shuddered. He didn’t want to tell him, but he also was terrified of what would happen if he didn’t. “I-I’m Bendy. Where are am I? How did I get here?”

The Devil’s eyes widened, his eyebrows rose, and he burst laughing. He brought a clawed hand to cover his eyes as he laughed. The whole area  _did_ shake with his laughter and fire rose up and fell. Bendy looked around nervously.

“By the seven sins! You must be the unluckiest demon ever! Welcome to hell!” the Devil said and lowered his hand. Bendy startled. Hell? He was actually  _in hell?_ The Devil’s grin became sharp. “Those two cup morons were supposed to handle you, and yet, here you are falling at my feet!”

“Cups?” Bendy snapped his eyes up to him. “Do you know those guys? How?”

“Know them? I sent them!” the Devil chuckled. Bendy’s eyes widened.

“W-why!” he demanded.

“For sticking your nose in other people’s business,” the Devil stated. “Now, I can take care of you myself.”

“Don’t bet on it!” Bendy said. He clenched his fists. He wasn’t gonna go down without a fight.

“Gambling against me? Now, that isn’t very smart! Don’t you know, I never lose, boy?” The Devil waved his hand and a gold trident appeared in it.

Bendy narrowed his eyes. “There’s a first for everything."

Mic shouted, “This match will get red hot!”

Bendy looked around for the voice, but couldn’t see anything. The Devil laughed his terrifying laugh. Bendy reached for his shadows, his eyes glowing bright red.

_“Now go!”_


	12. August 22, Monday (About August 17-19, Wednesday-Friday)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I hope you have all been having a good week. :D This journal entry covered a lot of ground. I didn't really realize this, but according to Tap, the way Holly acts sometimes is kind of crazy. I hope you enjoy her shenanigans as much as we enjoy them too.

Not having anything better to do, I hung around the antique shop until Fairfax showed up at his apartment again. When he arrived, a giggling girl was on his arm holding the roses he’d bought earlier. They went inside, and once it hit midnight, I made my way back to my apartment. Shelly was already asleep, so I snuck in quietly and passed out after eating a little bit of a cold casserole she’d made the day before.

The next morning, I was up at six and outside Fairfax’s apartment by six-thirty. I had a couple things I needed to think about. Foremost however, was that I needed to figure out how to get inside that building. Which meant, I needed to understand how it was run. Following Fairfax wasn’t important anymore at this point. I needed to watch his apartment.

Fairfax left the building around seven and got on a bus that I was fairly certain was headed toward the Toon Times. In the next couple couple hours, I watched a caterer, a group of movie stars, and a couple politicians show up. All sorts walked in through the front doors: a little girl in a poofy dress with a little black cat on her shoulder walked in with her parents, and a couple wandered in with two dogs at their heels. One dog was short legged, long eared one and the other was lanky and long legged. I looked sort of like a tramp. Then a beautiful lady with short black hair and pale, pale skin walked inside, humming. Eventually, I discovered something useful. Around noon, a dorky, kind looking mailman that I think was named Raphael walked inside with a rather large package.

At first I almost didn’t notice him. I mean, he blended in--like me. But then I saw the package and something clicked in my mind. Most of the time mailmen left packages in your mailbox, but if the package was too big to stick in the mailbox many fancy places would let the mailman into the apartment, so they could leave the package there.

What if I mailed myself to his apartment?

Almost instantly, I could see multiple ways where this could go wrong. It took a day, at the shortest, to mail a package to someone. I couldn’t sit in a box for days--could I? Also, what if he was there when the package arrived? That would be awkward. Fairfax opens the box, sees me. Hey J-boy, remember me? I’m your surprise birthday package!

Obviously, it wouldn’t go over very well.

I hung around in front of the apartment for a couple more hours, watching as the doormen changed shifts and more people streamed in and out. Every time someone entered they would flash this golden card to the doorman, and he would nod.

“Hello, Ms. White. Who’s your friend?”     

“Goodbye Mr. Hatter, don’t do anything too crazy today.” These doormen knew every single person who went in and out of the place by name.

The sky grew dark again, and Fairfax arrived with a different lady on his arm. Around ten I finally left, stumped other than my initial idea.

Once again, Shelly was asleep when I got back. Coming in from the rain that had started as I walked back, I felt a pang of guilt. Shelly and I liked our personal space, but back before I went a little research crazy about figuring out those boys I met, we would take the odd evening to hang out. She would teach me to cook, and I would read her some of my favorite books. We got along. Yet, now I was here, causing her so much trouble. The front door had been trashed with different profanities. Some were smeared, where I think Shelly might have tried to scrub them off. I noticed a small pile of unread notes on the floor in front of the door, but didn’t have the heart to go through them. I was tired. I realized at that moment that, with me being gone all the time, Shelly might be enduring the anger aimed towards me all by herself.

It made me angry. She was a good friend. She wasn’t even involved in all of this. Still feeling the ache behind my eyes, I gathered up some hot soapy water and a scrubber and went back outside. Some of the graffiti was pretty easy to wash away. It was pencil and chalk. Others weren’t so easy. These ones were paint. I scrubbed and scrubbed and finally went and got a spatula to chip away at it physically. It was then that I noticed that someone had even etched Cussing Witch into the door.

This lit the fires of anger in my heart. I marched right back inside and grabbed some tools from the dig etiquette class and went back outside. I had some sandpaper in there and after a good half an hour of sanding, the message was finally gone. It was midnight, once again.

Yawning, I opened the door and found Shelly sitting at the kitchen table with two cups of hot cocoa.

“Hey, Holly.”

I was a little startled. Why had she gotten up? Was she mad at me? Was she about to kick me out?

“Hey, Shelly. What’s up?”

Shelly patted the seat next to her, and I sat down.

Shelly is a short girl with pale hair that she liked to braid. It was free now, and she wore her favorite nightgown with embroidery at the edges. “So…” She followed the rim of her cup with her finger.

“Yes?” I sat down and took a sip of the hot cocoa. It might be the only positive thing to my entire day, so I was going to enjoy it.

“How are you doing?”

I sort of stared at her for a moment. “What?”

Shelly gave me her wide-eyed, questioning look. “I just wanted to know if you are okay. I mean, you’ve been working so hard to find a new job the past two days that you’re gone before I wake up and back after I’m asleep. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t pushing yourself too hard. I know it must be hard with how everyone is probably treating you.”

With each new words Shelly spoke, my stomach dropped. She had assumed I’d spent the last two entire days looking for a job? I looked down at my hands. I hated to lie. _I hated to lie._ This was going to hurt.

“Um...Actually Shelly. I wasn’t out looking for a job.”

Shelly frowned. “Oh.”

An awkward silence fell between the two of us. “What have you been doing then?” she tried.

No, I have not been going around looking for a job like a responsible adult. I’ve been stalking someone because he lied about me. Because, you know, I’m such a well balanced and responsible person...usually.

“I was...trying to see if I could get that reporter to admit that he made up some of that stuff about me.”

“Hmm.” Shelly thought for a moment. “I guess that makes sense. Sorry I just assumed.” She gave a little laugh. “I hope you succeed. Then maybe you’ll be able to get your library job back, and we can work together again.”

“Yeah, that would be nice.” And there was no way it would ever happen. Even if I proved I wasn’t with the mob, I’d broken rules.

Shelly cleared her throat. “Well...If you could also look for another job in the meantime? So we can pay this month’s rent?”

I nodded quickly. “Yes. I’m sorry. I got so caught up in all that happened that I really didn’t think...and I’m sorry Shelly. You’ve been so patient.”

She shook her head. “You don’t have to apologize. You were legitimately trying to clear your name.”

...Legitimately? Yeah. Haha. Legitimately stalking. I can't even pretend about that in this journal. You know exactly what I’ve been doing for the past few days.

Shelly got up, having finished her hot cocoa. “C’mon. We should both get to bed. You’ll need all the energy you can muster for tomorrow. If you want, I even have a few potential places you could apply.” She smiled, and I felt my heart sink a little lower.

I took my hot cocoa back into my room with me. Having shut the door, I sat at my desk, and thought.

What was I doing with my life? Shelly was right. I needed to be finding another job. What good would it do, really, getting my journal back? I had planned to _break into_ Fairfax’s apartment. It’s not like I could prove he was a schmuck by saying I’d found it at his apartment. My following him had been toeing the line, but if I actually snuck into his place, I would be breaking the law.  

Was crossing the line worth it? What would my father think? That thought gave me a painful feeling right where my throat meets my stomach. He had always taught me that it was important to keep moving forward. But I had completely stopped caring about myself when I'd found out I was expelled. He wouldn’t be happy. He had loved runes just as much as I do, but he wouldn’t want me to act like this. He would tell me I was better than this.

I still loved runes. I still wanted to learn about them. And even though I had been kicked out of Yen University, that didn’t mean I couldn’t still learn about them. I could still prove to other people how amazing they are. I could teach myself. I would give up on getting back at Fairfax or getting back my journal. It just wasn’t worth it.  

These thoughts in mind, I went to bed.

It's pretty ironic, right? Here I am writing in my journal about how I had decided to give up on getting it back.

Thursday morning, I slept in until about eight and got up when I heard the sound of Shelly cooking breakfast. I got dressed and went out into the kitchen.

“How did you sleep?” Shelly was making bacon.

“Like someone cast a rune spell on me.”

Smiling, Shelly gave me a plate with bacon and eggs on it. “Sounds good.”

“Thanks.” The bacon smelled really good…My stomach reminded me that the only dinner I had gotten last night was that one cup of hot cocoa. “If you have a moment, would you tell me the names of those places you thought I could apply to?”

Delighted, Shelly immediately listed off a bunch department stores, a couple cafés and a little book shop she'd seen that had been hiring. I finished my eggs and bacon quickly and left the apartment by nine.

I started with the department stores. I probably should have realized from the start that trying to get a job there wouldn’t work for me. I walked in with my nice (thrift shop) skirt and blouse and immediately got looks. The people working there had on dress pants, a white shirt and a fancy black vest with the shop’s logo on it. When I asked to talk to the manager a girl who had been flirting with her coworker near the back giggled and started to whisper to him.

The manager wore a suit and a nice watch that I guessed was at least gold leafed, if not made entirely from gold.

“Yes, Miss?” His face was a mask of polite interest.

“Um.” I shifted uncomfortably. “I heard you had placed an advertisement that you were hiring?”

“Oh, I am very sorry, Miss, but I’m afraid that we’ve already filled the position.” I cleared my throat. Well...this was awkward. I was fairly certain I’d seen a 'hiring' sign in the window when I’d walked in. “You wouldn’t happen to know any other places that are hiring then, would you?”

The man’s eyebrow twitched. “Miss, I’m afraid any place that I am acquainted with wouldn’t have any openings at this point.”

He was started to annoy me at this point. “Are you sure? Because it looks to me like you and your staff are just acting like discriminatory snobs.”

At this point, the guy’s jaw dropped. “Well...h-how dare you accuse--”

“It’s alright.” I folded my arms and resisted the urge to call the guy any mean names. I failed. “I guess balloon-headed snobs need places to work too.” That out of my system, I pivoted and marched out of the store without another word.

Still marching down the street, I immediately regretted losing my temper. Geez. If finding a job wouldn’t already be difficult at this point, it wasn’t a good idea to alienate anyone else.

I visited the rest of the department stores on my list with similar results. (I did not lose my temper after the first time.)

At this point I was exhausted. I sat on a park bench and stared at the sky, wondering if there really was a point in me continuing to try. It was so exhausting to deal with people. In my job at the school, I would just sit at a desk and smile at people. I only actually needed to interact with people every once in a while when someone had a question. That had been the best job. Why had I lost that job again? I am such an idiot.

Ten minutes later, my self-pitying done, I got up...and realized that my purse was missing. I’m going to be honest with you, reader, I may have come to tears at that moment. That purse had two days worth of meal money!

Although, right now, I wonder if having my purse stolen might have been a part of some larger plan of fate. I was determined, I telling you, to do the right thing. I was going to set aside my personal vendetta. I would work hard again. I wouldn’t let my circumstances take me down, and I wouldn’t lower my standards just because someone else had done something wrong.

Well. Then things changed.

I looked around the park for another ten minutes (Once again, I have no idea why. It’s not like the purse snatcher was going to take my purse, walk ten feet, have a sudden, life-altering change of heart, and then decide to leave it there.). Left with no other alternatives, I went to the police station to file a report.

At least a little bit of luck was on my side when I got there. I was afraid that a police officer would recognize me from Fairfax’s article, but the lady at the front seemed so preoccupied with the mound of papers on her desk that she hardly looked at me.

I explained my problem, and she started to shuffle through some papers on her desk.

“Ah? We’re out of that form.” The telephone next to her started to ring.

She started to speak quickly.“Just go down the end of the hall to that room on the right.” She waved her hand for emphasis. “The form you need is the middle one on a table in there. When you’re done filling it out, bring it back.” Picking up the phone, she spoke even faster.

Her dismissiveness made me feel safe and uncomfortable at the same time. Slowly I walked down the hall, wondering for a moment if she was going to change her mind when she saw me actually walking down the hall, deeper into the police station.

I had nearly gotten all the way down the hall when I heard a familiar voice.

“Now, I understand that, but you know how messy people can be,” Fairfax said. “You can’t blame me! It’s was the hitman’s fault.”

I froze. What? Hitman? Fairfax? What the bunnyslippers? There was a room a little in front of me to the right. The door was just barely open, like someone had shut it and it had bounced.

“And the idiot you hired! I dealt with him. You’re walking on thin ice here!” another voice said.

Dealt with him?

“Dealt with him? I thought he was transferred after he couldn’t get the job done,” Fairfax said, sounding intrigued.

Was this really what I thought it was? Dealt with? Hit man? Was Fairfax planning murder? I knew he was a schmuck...but this? Slowly, I started to inch forward, peeking through the crack of the doorway.

“He was. They sent him somewhere on the other side of the country,” the other voice answered. “The cussing waste won't live long enough to get there, though. Listen here, I don’t have any patience for screw ups. And you--you screwed up.”

Through just a sliver of an opening I saw Fairfax. Shifting, so I was almost pressed against the door, I tried to study the other man. He was tall, with graying hair and a square, heavy chin.

“You wouldn’t do anything to me. I’m under Robert Sykes,” Fairfax said confidently.

Wait. I sort of recognized the other guy’s face. Where did I know him from? Hadn’t I seen him in a newspaper or something?

“I don’t care if you’re under the cussing president! You endanger my position again, and I’ll have your head on a pike!” the other roared.

“Calm yourself, commissioner. Mind your high blood pressure,” Fairfax said in a mockingly soothing tone. “You're not the one that had to tell my boss that the plan fell through.”

Applesauce, stars, and horsefeathers!!! That was the police commissioner? _The_ police commissioner? Should I even be standing here? Shouldn’t I go tell someone? But who? That was the commissioner!

The commissioner grumbled what sounded like curses.

“Now, no need for that. You know the Syke brothers are good on their word,” Fairfax said. “The slimy lizard Oddswell may have given our grunt the slip, but the game isn’t over yet.”

They...were trying to kill Oddswell?

“You still have your spot, and I got mine. No one’s the wiser,” Fairfax said smoothly. “We just keep doing our parts, and we all walk away as rich as kings.”

And I had my spot--out here in the hall, which was going to throw a bit of a monkey wrench into both their plans when I outed them both as flying mooks! I wasn’t going to let them kill Oddswell! And if they were trying to kill Oddswell, didn’t that mean...wouldn’t that suggest...that he was innocent?

The commissioner huffed. “That’s all this is to you, uh, Fairfax? Money?”

Fairfax chuckled pleasantly. “Well, a bit of popularity is nice too. I wouldn't mind if people tipped their hat when they recognizing my name.”

This guy...needed to be cut down a foot or fifty.

The other man laughed. “And that’s the difference there. I had to work and work hard for my place in the world. It wasn’t handed to me on a silver platter.”

But I make all of that hard work up by whining about it whenever I'm having a secret meeting about murdering someone.

“But didn’t ol’ Bill help you get this spot after the last commissioner...Well, you know.”

Well...so much for the comish's hard work.

“Shut your trap! Don’t you go sticking that vulture beak of yours into my business!” the commissioner barked. “Keep up that talk, and you’ll be at the bottom of the bay in cement shoes. The Sykes can always find a new dog!”

The Sykes. I embedded that name in my memory.

Fairfax chuckled. “All I’m saying is that you seem to be buying into the drivel you’re telling all your underlings and the news. The bosses have been wondering about your end of the deal lately, what with Wilson escaping and this BBro mess. Not that I really mind, they are great for selling papers.”

Wilson _escaping_ ? Did these guys _frame_ Wilson!?

“Quit your yapping,” the commissioner growled. “You go back to your boss and tell him I’ll have my end taken care of. No cop, doc, or nosy kid is gonna stop our plans. Now, he better get his paper straightened out! At this rate we’ll have to shut things down next month! Rain on this circus game your boss is playing. It’s getting dangerous.”

Oh, dear. I needed to move.

“The news is always a circus, the best circus there is. Anyone could be a star.” Fairfax smirked. “Dead or alive.”

“More like bait. Now get out.”

I sprinted down the hall, praying to the high skies that they were both shufflers. I needed to make the entrance before they got out the door.

“Are you running in a police station?”

For the second time in the last five minutes, I froze. The lady at the front desk was looking at me with a scowl. “Geez, I get busy for five seconds and ask you to do one thing and suddenly--”

Behind me I saw Fairfax walk out of the room. Just like me, he froze, eyes wide when he saw me. He started to frown. “Hey…”

“Bye!” I waved frantically at the lady and bolted through the front doors. I sprinted down the street like some sort of zany. I never realized I had such great coordination until I was slipping by people, dodging bags and essentially trying not to trip myself.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know the area.

I had made it down the next block to a more deserted area when a hand shot out of an alleyway and yanked me in. They dragged me to the end, and Fairfax pressed his hand against my mouth, pinning me to the wall. The commissioner took his gun out.

“Really, sweetie?” Fairfax’s face was annoyed smirk. “It wasn’t personal, but you just had to cause trouble, didn’t you?”

BANG!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...Just kidding.

Hahahaha! You should have seen your face. I wish I could have seen your face, but let me tell you, what I imagined was priceless.

Oh, don’t get mad. I needed a little bit of humor, especially sitting here in the dark, alone, knowing that the city is being run by complete psychopaths.

Anyways, what really happened was this. Once I heard the commissioner tell Fairfax to leave, I immediately moved to the opposite side of the door--behind it when it opened. They started to walk down the hall. I quietly slipped into the filing room, where I had been sent in the first place. I waited there about five minutes (filled out the theft form) and calmly walked back to the desk. I handed the passive aggressive desk lady my form, and then left.

Hoooboy. During those five seconds when I was behind the door, though, I felt like I was going to get shot. After I left the station I went straight back home. I wanted to do more job hunting, but at that point, my head was buzzing like a hive had made a home in it. The commissioner was trying to murder Oddswell...and Fairfax? Why would Fairfax be involved in some sort of shady spy conspiracy? Could he be undercover? Pretending to work with mayor, while secretly working on a story?

...Yeah, right. The role of bad guy fit him a little too well.

I pondered what I had seen once I was back in my room. What should I do about this? This was completely out of my ability to handle. Also, if the commissioner was involved, then other people under him were definitely involved as well.

Who could I turn to with this information? Who was more powerful than the commissioner? It was sort of important! I sat on my bed, with my back to the corner, facing the door. Why were they trying to shut Oddswell up, anyways?

I didn’t have enough answers. At this point, even if I went to someone with this information, I wouldn’t have enough proof. It was my word against theirs. Against the word of the commissioner. Against the word of a popular journalist who had just published a discrediting article about me in the newspaper.

They would totally believe me. Hands down. I had nothing to worry about.

So...I decided to mail myself to Fairfax.

Once I have a plan in mind, I tend to move pretty quickly. Earlier, when I had followed Fairfax to his apartment, I had taken note of the lady he had come back with. A little research had led me to her name. Clara Bow. Now, I found out her address in the public phone book.

This done, I went out and bought a large and medium box, a cake, and some packaged food. A recipe for disaster, huh?

Putting the cake into the medium box, I wrote a note on my typewriter.  ‘I had a lot of fun on Tuesday. Call me. Signed, Clara.’ I put the note in with the cake.

This next part was tricky (and expensive...). I knew Shelly typically got back from work around two on Thursdays, so I wrote out a note asking her to tape up the top of my package and have the mailman pick it up when he came by at three.

I picked up the medium box with the cake and got into the large one. Pulling the box closed, I waited. Lucky me, Shelly was late. Two thirty passed, and I was starting to get nervous--and cramped.

Two forty arrived and, finally, so did Shelly. She must have been tired because when she came in she collapsed on the couch. A few more minutes passed by, and I was getting really nervous. What would Shelly think if she opened the box? What if she started packaging the box after three? I would be trapped in there until tomorrow at three! I thought I might die of cramping if that happened.

“Oh?” Finally, I heard the sweet sound of Shelly noticing me...well my box.

The note I left crinkled, and Shelly sighed. I felt a little bit of guilt for causing her trouble again--right before a very real stab of fear. I heard the sound of tape being pulled out and pressed against the top of my box.

“Well, I suppose that’s good enough.”

Shelly walked toward the door, and I heard it shut. A moment later, it open again.

“Yes. This is the package over here.” The ground rushed out from underneath me suddenly and the next moment, I was on my way. I spent the rest of that day and most of the next in that box, clutching the cake and eating the packaged food I’d bought. That’s all I’ll say, at this point, about this particular experience. It was very traumatizing for me, and I don’t really want to go back and think about it now. Needless to say, Friday afternoon, my package arrived at Fairfax’s apartment.

At first, I didn’t realize I’d arrived. There had been a lot of shifting around me, so when the door shut, I wasn’t sure whether I was actually in Fairfax’s apartment.

I took a moment to mentally prepare myself. Then, using the kitchen knife I’d brought with me, I tore my way out of the box.

Fairfax’s apartment was surprisingly neat. There was a white fluffy couch. Two heavy ornate chairs were on either side of it, and there was a small intricately carved coffee table between the couch and the a television. He had a television. The kitchen had all granite counters and the table was small, only a two-seater. A rose was still in a tastefully designed vase on the table. Apparently, he’d had another girl over the night before. This was starting to look like a habit for him. I put the box with the cake in it on his table. There. Now he wouldn’t be suspicious because the box that had been delivered to him had ‘disappeared’.

Moving to the back of the room, I saw there were two doors. The one on the right was his bedroom, but the one on his left was a study. Honestly, all thoughts went out of my head  when I saw that he had shelves and shelves of books. In addition to the shelves, there were newspapers everywhere, most (I quickly noticed) featuring him.

So, for the next few hours, this room became my work space. I would pick up a book or document, look at it briefly and then move on.

This is because...well, here’s a little secret about me. My talent is memorization. I can remember every single thing I’ve seen in perfect detail, once I’ve seen it. So, while I was searching Fairfax’s apartment, I didn’t waste time studying any of the stuff there in too much detail. All I did was look, and I had it. I would actually think about what I’d seen later.

It was nearly seven by the time I got through everything I could possibly find (I even searched underneath his furniture and looked for secret compartments...Didn’t find any though.).

I crumpled up the box I’d come in and took it with me when I left. I was a little worried because I couldn’t lock Farifax's door, but I was satisfied that I had found some important things.

When I finally made it back home, Shelly was waiting for me in the living room.

She didn’t speak for a moment when I entered. She simply raised a brow, her lips pursed.

“Where were you last night, Holly?” Her voice was soft, but I could hear the anger behind it. “I was really worried.”

I confess, I lied.

I told her that I had spent the day job hunting and had run into a friend who had invited me to spend the night. Honestly, after committing to her to job hunt, it sounded--I felt frivolous. And from the way she looked at me, I don’t think she believed my lie. She looked hurt, but she didn’t challenge me.

Retreating to my room, I stuffed my guilt to the back of my mind like it was a piece of dirty laundry. Then I took a moment to think about what I’d seen.

What I found in Fairfax’s apartment was this.

  * 1 envelope with (tons) of money in it and a note attached to it with a ‘delivery date’
  * My journal (Of course. He didn’t even bother to hide it.)
  * A planner (Mostly it was journalist stuff, but I noticed that he meets someone at this warehouse on the docks every other week.)
  * A train schedule ticket (These list people riding a train. Specifically, this one listed that Bendy and Boris had gotten on a train from Warnerburg to Toon Town a little over two weeks ago.)
  * A book on non transmittable diseases and terminal illnesses. (I opened this one because upon finding it, I realized it was a bit different from all the other types of books Fairfax had. The others were new and shiny. This book was worn, but it had been patched up like the owner really cared for it. When I opened it, I got the worst shock. Written on the inside was the name ‘Wilson Wiseton’. I looked at every single page.)



And that, dear, patient, friendly reader brings me back to the present.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holly! How could you scare me like that! Not funny, still I'm glad they didn't nab her. I wasn't expecting her to find that book there either! Mercowe is poking into some pretty zany stuff. I mean, really, mailing yourself? That's a Warner thing! XD I had a lot of fun with this chapter. I hope you did too!


	13. August 23, Tuesday

It is now Tuesday evening. That was last Friday. During the last three days, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, I followed Fairfax, but honestly he hasn’t been doing anything suspicious. He goes on one date a day (sometimes two), interviews people, and spends a considerable time writing inside the Toon Times. At least, I’m assuming that’s what Fairfax is doing while he’s inside The Times. Going in that building is the one line I don’t think I can cross. It’s not because I am afraid or have a moral dilemma or anything. The fact is, my chances of being recognized go way up the moment I step foot in that building. If Fairfax is even gets slightly suspicious that I have been following him or that I know what he’s been doing, my little joke in here from yesterday could quickly become a very graphic reality. Well, graphic for me. From everyone else’s point of view, I’d probably just disappear.  

That said, I’m really nervous right now. I also tried to visit Oddswell in prison--to see if he would tell me anything, to see if I could help him. I asked at the front and got rejected almost immediately. It’s the most frustrating feeling, knowing a person is in danger, but not being able to do anything to stop it or even warn them. What is the point of knowing if all I can do is watch?

Argh.

Also, I missed Fairfax’s delivery date. Remember the wad of cash I saw in his apartment? The ‘delivery date’ written on it was for today, the 23rd. Obviously, I knew that. However something unprecedented stopped me from seeing what he did with it. I probably should have seen this coming. We’d been building towards it since I’d lost my job.

So what stopped me from seeing who Fairfax delivered the money to was this. Shelly.

I got up at six this morning, and she was sitting out at the kitchen table, two cups of hot cocoa set in front of her, still hot. She didn’t look up when I walked into the room and froze. I stood there for a moment, and she didn’t speak. Oh no. I really had messed things up this time! Another few moments passed. Why wasn’t she saying anything?

Tentatively, I walked up to her. She was sleeping. Her head was propped up with her hand, and her eyes were closed. She snored lightly. I touched her shoulder.

“Shelly?”

Shelly jerked awake, her head snapping toward me. “Wha--”

“Why are you out here?”

Shelly blinked in a daze. “Oh, Holly!” She gestured to the chair next to her. “I wanted to talk to you.” I picked up my cup of hot cocoa in resignation.

“Yes?”

“I, um.” She rubbed her face. “I want to go job hunting with you today.”

“What?” Anxiety spiked through me. I needed to follow Fairfax.

“I found some more places for you to apply to. Today’s my day off.”

“What about school? It’s a Monday.”

“We’re just reviewing for a test, and I did a bunch of studying over the weekend.”

Shelly, now fully awake, gave me a inquisitive look. “Unless, there’s something else you were planning on doing today?”

She knew very well, I wasn’t job hunting. She also knew very well that I wasn’t going to admit it. Shelly didn’t look it, but she can be a real bearcat when she sets her mind to something.   

I couldn’t tell her what I was really doing. First of all, at this point, I didn’t have much I could do about this information. I needed to tell someone who had more power than the commissioner. Secondly, knowing these things could get me killed. I wasn’t going to put the only person who seemed to actually care about me in danger. Thirdly, I don’t know if Shelly would believe me. Other than Friday night, I’d never really lied to her. But still, what I'd overheard would seem pretty convenient to anyone else.

With no alternative, and slightly because I knew I would need to depend on Shelly again in the future, I agreed. Shelly cheered right up. Once we were ready, she took us out to eat at one of her favorite cafes. We spent the day pounding the pavement. We visited those other cafes she’d mentioned before (she didn’t say anything when I told her I hadn’t applied there yet). Then we went to the little bookshop she’d mentioned last Thursday.

A very spunky cat runs that book shop. She even pointed out some books to me that I wanted to get badly. They were a series, Felix the Cat’s memoirs. I’ve heard about those, but because of studying, I hadn’t read them yet. Unfortunately, she had filled the position she needed last Saturday. She did give me a free copy of one of the Felix books, though. I practically died of happiness.

When the shops around town started to shut down, we headed home. We got back and ate dinner. Surprisingly, when I slipped out afterward to try and find Fairfax (I thought, maybe there was a chance he was doing his ‘delivery’ in the evening? He wasn’t by the way.), she didn’t say a word. I know she’s worried. At least going out together today seems to have soothed some of her anxiety about my situation. Although, it hasn’t soothed mine. I feel a bit of soberness now. While I was out with Shelly today, what if something happened to Oddswell?


	14. August 24, Wednesday

I followed Fairfax again today. He went to a few interviews, one with this seedy looking rat, and another with a cow who I think owns a local bakery in the area. That’s another pattern I’d noticed in the past few days. He keeps on interviewing people from bakeries and grocers and little establishments like that. It sort of feels like he is looking for something specific, and he’s talking to those people to sort through his options.

Around eight in the evening, Fairfax went home and picked up a choice bit of calico. Just like he does every night. She wore a nice black dress. I'm guessing she might be a singer? I was feeling particularly frustrated, so after he got back to his apartment, I left.

I’m now at the public library, doing research. I missed my chance to see where that money was going yesterday, but I still have some leads to follow. The Sykes brothers. Who are they? Are they the ones who want Oddswell dead? How are they connected to Fairfax and the commissioner?

I’m looking through public records.

*Later, around midnight.*

I’m back at the apartment now. I’ve sat here for about ten minutes now, trying to figure out exactly what to say about the records I read in the library.

Um, how about I explain my process first? I went to the card catalog and searched there, first off. S, for Sykes. Honestly, I didn’t expect to find anything.

I found a lot.

Sixty-seven. I found sixty-seven articles on a man named Bill Sykes published in various newspapers. How is it that I’d never heard of this man before? Bill Sykes’ face washed across the papers for years. He was accused of extortion, blackmail, black market dealings, bootlegging, gambling and a whole lot more. There was even a ton of speculation (and a little bit of evidence that always seemed to vanish mysteriously) on how he is a part of _the mob._

The more I learn about all of this, the more my heart sinks. Just how much corruption will I find here? The more I learn, the more dangerous all of this seems. This is the mob. Should I really be getting myself involved in this? But then I remember Oddswell. His life is on the line, and I am the only one who knows who is targeting him. I could help the police stop those attempts, but I need to do this carefully, because my only advantage right now is that I am meaningless in all of this. I am literally a no one, and that is what has protected me. If someone noticed me, I wouldn’t know how to protect myself. Learning that the mob is behind these assassination attempts brings more questions to my mind too. Why does the mob want Oddswell dead? Was Oddswell involved with the mob? Does that mean all of Fairfax’s allegations against the boys are true too?  Are they really involved with the mob?

No. I refuse that conclusion. The runes just _couldn’t_ react to them so peacefully if they were exposed to that kind of violence. They’re innocent...right?

Also, the strange thing I noticed is that these articles just stopped five to six years ago. They went poof. I think that’s why I’d never heard of him. I only moved to Toon Town about three years ago. I looked at the most recent articles, thinking maybe he got arrested or something, but no. Nothing like that was reported.

In addition to the articles on Bill Sykes, I found some other newspaper articles. This is where things have started to make a little more sense to me. These other articles weren’t about a man named Sykes. They were _written_ by a Robert Sykes. And those articles were published in the Toon Times. This could be the connection I am looking for between Fairfax and the mob. How are Robert and Bill Sykes connected. Who is Robert?


	15. August 25, Thursday

My summary of the day. Got up. Followed Fairfax. Went to library. Now, to get to the important parts.

I tried to wade through more articles on Bill Sykes, but all I found was more speculation and not much I could work with. At that point, I wondered if there were any public records I could look at. This raised a question for me. Where do you find public records? I asked the librarian, and she told me there were multiple places I could go. The city hall is one good one. The courthouse would have any information on court cases. Also the county clerk’s office would have a lot of more general public records. This is what I’m going to look into tomorrow.


	16. August 26, Friday

I didn’t follow Fairfax today. I wanted to, because if--Yen Sid help me--Fairfax went back to that police station or met with the commissioner, I would know for sure that they were about to make another hit on Oddswell. If that happened, I would try something…? I would write an anonymous note and give it to one of the policemen there. But once again, to whom? As I’m sure you can tell, I haven’t thought enough about this yet. Maybe that’s something I need to research as well? Which of these cops has a reputation for decency? Who could I give an anonymous note, warning them about these attempts on Oddswell? I can’t just wait until Fairfax meets with the commissioner. By then it’d probably be too late. I need to become familiar with the shady characters around here so when Fairfax meets with them, I can see the signs and guess for myself that hit may be coming. Geez, there you go, a second thing I need to add to my list of things to research. Note to self, check out book on psychos and sociopaths. Look in the index for the mobster listing. Memorize list. Yeah. It’s totally going to be that easy.

Anyways, instead of following Fairfax, I went to city hall. I couldn't follow Fairfax because the public office closes before he finishes up for the day. I think it has been worth it. Public records have made things a lot simpler. I found out that Robert and Bill Sykes are brothers. Not only that, but I picked up a Toon Times paper and shuffled through the pages, looking for Robert Sykes’ name. He isn’t just a reporter. He is currently the editor-in-chief for the Toon Times. Want to know the part that makes me feel really grummy? Once I knew that, I went through the papers I’d looked at again in my head and realized that Robert became the editor-in-chief roughly five and some years ago. I have no proof (once again), but it looks like Roberts been scrubbing the newspaper of anything on his brother for the last five years. Just why hasn't anyone stopped him? Maybe the commissioner used his influence? Still, how did someone with obviously shady connections, like Robert Sykes, even get hired at Toon Times in the first place?


	17. August 27, Saturday

I looked at my calendar this morning. The number twenty-seven jumped out like a wolf spider at my face. I have four days until the end of the month. Rent is due on the third of next week. Next Saturday. I still don’t have a job.

This in mind, once Fairfax went to lunch, I sprinted across town to those cafes I applied to on Monday.

Every single one of them had filled the position.

It’s sort of amazing that none of these places has called me back. The problem I have here is that being a college student without a degree yet, most of the jobs I can apply to are lower wage places. Most of these places are populated by other college students. Which presents me with the true issue.

There is this little hole in the wall diner that I sort of liked on Monday. It was my last stop, and when I walked in the diner, I saw this kid standing in the front. I didn’t even have time to open my mouth before he saw me and disappeared into the back. A moment later, the manager walked up front, and that’s when I noticed the paper in his hand. *Sighs* It was Fairfax’s article. Well. Now I knew why people weren’t hiring me! If all of these places had college students, and they were all calling me a witchy mob runner, there’s no way anyone would hire me.

I followed Fairfax the rest of the day until four and went county clerk’s office this time. On impulse, I went through the public record of land deeds there, and I found out that Bill Sykes is the CEO of a shipping company located near the docks.


	18. August 28, Sunday

With so little time left until my due date, I’ve left off following Fairfax and gone job hunting again. I will continue what I’ve been doing when I _have_ found a job.


	19. September 1, Thursday

I have two days left. As each day passes, and I get closer to the fourth, I feel the fear inside me grow. With each day that passes Shelly has grown more and more quiet. She’s come out with me a few times in the past couple days, but she can never stay very long. You see, we rent this apartment together. We don’t have separate leases. The full rent needs to be paid, or we both will get kicked out. The landlady is very serious about that. We can't be late. It’s just one more reason I need to push through this. On a side note, after trekking around town, I remembered that today was the day Fairfax was supposed to have that hinky meeting at a warehouse on the docks. I missed it.  


	20. September 2, Friday

I couldn’t sleep last night. I woke up early this morning. It’s five thirty, and I am sitting here, writing. I was just staring at the ceiling before, anxiety eating at me. I need a job. I have let Shelly down. I need to tell someone that Fairfax and the commissioner were the ones who were trying to kill Oddswell. I haven’t found out anything new, anything proof-worthy in days. I have let Oddswell down. I need to do something right. I am failing at everything I am trying at.

If I don’t find a job or somehow get my hands on some money by tomorrow, both Shelly and I will go homeless. What if I woke up tomorrow to read about Oddswell’s mysterious death in the papers? If those things happen, I don’t think I can handle it.

 


	21. September 3, Saturday

I walked around town up until four today. I ran out of bus cash part way through the week. Rent is due at five. I am sitting here...writing. I’m waiting for the apartment manager to come knock on our door.

*Two hours later*

It is now six. The manager still hasn’t come.

*One more hour later*

After waiting another half an hour, I went down to the manager’s office. It was the strangest thing. She was about to close up, and she seemed surprised when she saw me approaching. She’s this short, wrinkled, ornery little lady that I’m pretty sure could stop a burglar in his tracks with a single look if she wanted to. I am not joking. I am serious. I think it may be her talent.

“What.” She glares at me in annoyance. I freeze.

“Uh, um?”

“Spit. It out.”

“Rent? Um, I don’t have enough.”

She paused, taking a good ten seconds to up her annoyed expression another two notches. “Are you high on pop rocks? You paid rent yesterday. Now, if you’ll kindly go stick your head under a sink and clear it a little, I have a gambling parlor to visit.”

Before I had a chance to say another word, she’d hobbled down the stairs like a 1890’s race car driver. I walked back up stairs slowly. I am now waiting for Shelly to get back. She’ll know what happened, right?

*Another hour later*

Shelly paid the entire rent. Apparently ever since she found out I’d lost my job, she’s been taking a bunch of extra shifts at the school. I. Didn’t. Even. Notice. That, combined with what she’d managed to save over the last couple months, covered the rent. She told me that I could pay her back my half of the rent when I got a job. I have such a good friend. I don’t know what to say.


	22. September 4, Sunday

I couldn’t go to any of the public offices to do research on the Sykes because it is a Sunday, so I ended up continuing my job search...while I followed Fairfax. He went to a lot of places around town today, so I actually managed to pass by quite a few places and grab applications while he grabbed lunch and dinner. I’ve started looking at more difficult jobs, since those are more likely to hire me, despite the gossip. For example, I went to this one diner and asked specifically about night shifts, since those are the positions no one wants. I _will_ find a job. I _will_ make it through this next month okay. I _will_ pay rent.


	23. September 5, Monday

Now that it’s a weekday, I had the opportunity to visit the county clerk’s office again. The last thing I found out about the Sykes was that Bill Sykes, A.K.A. mobster extraordinaire, is the CEO of a shipping company at the docks. From the conversation I overheard, the Sykes are probably near the center of this strange conspiracy. So, if I can find something directly linking them to the commissioner and the misuse of the Toon Times, I will have enough proof to go to the mayor. Over the last week I pondered who might have enough power to take the commissioner down, and the mayor seemed to be the best choice. The problem is that I still have to prove what I saw. I need to link the Sykes to the commissioner...not to mention the Sykes to the mob.

Did I really think that last sentence? I sound like a bad detective movie that only used half its budget.

Now that I’m back in the clerk’s office, what I found interesting is that when Bill Sykes originally took over his father’s business it took a pretty major nose dive. It’s pretty apparent, even by just looking at the revenues for those first five years, that there were issues with his initial decisions as a CEO. He invested their money in something called...Two Way Toothpaste? From what I gathered, it’s toothpaste with caps on both ends to make it easier to get all the paste out?

Getting back to my point, this invention didn’t really take off, and Bill’s shipping company lost a lot of money on it. Then, mysteriously, the company recovered. Now, what was strange here is not only that suddenly their revenue shot up, but also that around this time, their competition started to disappear. I mean that literally. I noticed the shift in shipping companies in the market around that time. I wondered why so many companies dropped out, so I went back to the library and looked through more newspapers. A lot of people in the shipping industry just up and vanished around that time. There were plenty of excuses as to why they disappeared. A sudden elope. Dirty secrets revealed. One even claimed he won the lottery and just quit.

Without guidance or vital personnel, many of these companies went on a nut and had to close down or _got bought out_ by Bill Sykes company. The newspapers put up a fuss about it for a while, but then Robert Sykes got a hold of the Toon Times and for some reason all of the newspapers quieted down.  

I don’t know how much more I’ll find, but hopefully something I find here will give me a clue as what to do next.


	24. September 6, Tuesday

Got up. Followed the Fairfax. Went to library. Didn’t find anything else.


	25. September 7, Wednesday

Got up. Went to public records office. Didn’t find anything else. Spent the rest of the day following Fairfax around town. I’m starting to become familiar with his regular contacts as compared to the people he only ever interviews once. One is this hinky looking rat gentleman, a couple different weasels, and this creepy gentleman in a nice coat with a mustache. Although, he’s only met the mustache man twice. I looked him up and mustache man is a _lawyer._ Not only is our justice system compromised, but apparently our justice system is being manhandled as well. This does not bode well.


	26. September 8, Thursday

Got up. Followed Fairfax. Desperately ran from business to late night business to see if any of them were hiring.

As I’ve made no progress in finding anything more on the Sykes, I’ve decided to try and figure out whether there is anyone in the police who I could trust with an anonymous note warning about an assassination attempt on Oddswell. If it gets to that. How exactly should I even try and figure that out?


	27. September 9-12, Friday-Monday

_Nothing. Happened._


	28. September 13, Tuesday

I’ve been out of a job and school for over a month now. Why is it that I am _way_ more exhausted now than I ever was then?    

So, I've been looking into the different police officers who are a part of the TTPD. Sadly, I recognized a couple of them right off bat. They've met with Fairfax before. I can't afford to trust anyone who's done that for now.


	29. September 14, Wednesday

I looked up a picture of Robert Sykes. I don't think I'll get much more information following Fairfax. So, I'm thinking...of following Robert Sykes. It would be safer than trying to follow Bill Sykes. I'm ninety percent sure he's mob. On another note, Fairfax has his shady dockside meeting tomorrow. If I decide it's worth the risk, I'll start following Robert Sykes after I witness what this meeting is all about.


	30. September 15, Thursday

I don’t know what to say right now. I’m really angry with myself. Today is the day Fairfax had one of those meetings on the docks. But his journal didn’t specify when he was supposed to go or give an address. He was uncharacteristically careful about information on this event.

I mean, this is the man that left my stolen journal out in the open on his desk. His flippant disregard for caution in being discovered is ridiculous or frightening. I’m not sure which I think it is. Either he’s an idiot who should have been caught a long time ago or he has such solid backing that he doesn’t care too much about being caught.   

I’ve gotten distracted again. My point here is that I didn’t have an address or even a time for when he was planning to have this meeting. I had planned to follow him from his apartment like I usually do...like I usually do. That line is so hinky. *Pulls at hair, hoping no one actually ever reads this journal.* So, I had planned to follow him from his apartment. It was really early in the morning. Precisely, it was around six fifteen. I was walking towards Fairfax’s apartment when I noticed that little hole in the wall diner I mentioned earlier.

Remember how I met the manager, and he had Fairfax’s article tucked under his arm? When he came out to talk to me, he said that he was still reviewing applications, so he had no definite decision for me yet. I mentioned that I would be willing to work night shifts (With my schedule, as I've been trying to find evidence and following Fairfax, it would be the best way to do things anyways. Who needs sleep? I don’t. I live off of energy runes. Hahahaha!) When I talked to him then, I assumed that his putting off giving me a decision just meant he was avoiding directly telling me I wasn’t hired. However, when I saw that same diner open at such an early hour, I decided to give it a second try.

I walked inside and was startled to find the manager at the table with about forty or fifty different papers spread in front of him. He looked up, startled as well.

“We’re not open.”

I stood in the door, looking awkward. “Actually I applied for your position some days ago. I was just coming in to ask about it…”

I caught a glimpse of his papers. It was a ledger and some other financial documents. The man looked at me for a moment. “It’s rather early to be coming in for that.” He looked a moment more. “I remember you now.”

I almost didn’t catch his last words because I was studying the papers in front of him. His ledger wasn’t balanced.

“Well, unfortunately at this point, we probably won’t be hiring. I’m sorry to have put you through the effort of applying, but I realized recently that we don’t have the funding for more staff.”

I continued to study the ledger. It didn’t look like the person who had written in the ledger had even tried to keep it balanced. It was blatantly sloppy and...the income just jumped for no reason at another point.

I looked up at the manager. He was staring at me. I stared back. “I can fix your money problems.” (Wish I could tell myself that.)

“What?”

“Your ledger is all wrong.”

He looked down. I saw a ripple of confusion and then offense go across his face as he realized I’d been looking at his books. His expression finally settled on skepticism.   

“Miss, I appreciate the gesture, but I can’t have a stranger looking at our financia--”

“Whoever is doing your ledger is stealing from you, walking away with money occasionally.”

“Huh?” His gaze dropped back to the ledger, and he really started to study it. “What? How can you tell that?”

I finally left the doorway and pointed at the spots in the ledger where the income changed with little to no explanation. “You see, documenting everything is extremely important for a business…” (It was his son, if you’re curious. In addition to being sloppy writing things down, he took pocket money occasionally.)

We talked more, and by seven ten...I had a job. I’m still a little light headed in wonder. I raced down the street and barely managed to catch Fairfax getting on his morning bus.

The day went like it usually does when I’m following Fairfax. Walk. Watch Fairfax flirt. Walk some more. I pretty sure I could cause him a lot of trouble just leaving a note to each of these girls about all the others. He’s gone out with at least nine different women so far this week. I refuse to be that petty, though.

Evening fell and Fairfax left the Toon Times. In a bit of a twist, he didn’t take the bus or his car. The streets were getting more and more empty by this point, so I took my time and lagged behind him more than usual. It would be stupid to get caught after following him for this long. We walked for roughly thirty minutes--until I could smell salt in the air and hear ocean waves. There were buildings on the horizon, and no one was around. It was getting cold.

The only sounds I could hear were the waves on the beach and the distant tread of Fairfax’s footsteps. He turned a corner. My heart was in my mouth at this moment, and I thought of all the thriller movies I’d seen. I peered carefully around the corner.

The journalist opened a door to an enormous warehouse that was the last one on the end. I studied the building, feeling the sweat form on my forehead. The ocean was directly in front of me, and there was a row of docks to match the rows and rows of warehouses. A crane about twice my height was attached to each dock. I looked back at Fairfax’s building. It was warehouse F3.

Instead of turning the corner, I circled around so that I was at the back of the building Fairfax had entered. I got to the back of the building. Loose rope and empty crates were scattered around the alley between this warehouse and the next. It was so big...I looked for a window and after a moment I spotted one...at a level about three times my height. How could I get in?

I looked around again. The crates.

Carefully, I stacked the crates nearby. It was hard work. They were heavy. After I managed to put a third one on top, I realized there was no way I could lift a fourth. Despite this, I decided to try and get on the crates and see how close I got to the window.

The building was gray and made of cold cement. I climbed up the first crate with barely enough room to keep me off the ground. Pulling myself onto the next, I looked down and for a split second, I thought I saw the ground sway beneath me.

I grabbed the third and pulled myself to the top.

At first I was on my knees, and I felt the crates sway again. I wasn’t going to get killed by a mobster. I was going to break my neck. Then Fairfax and whoever else was in there were going to laugh and say they didn’t even need to worry about some nosy student.

I stood.

The top of my hands touched the window sill.

Cold glass pressed against my hands, and as I felt around the window, I found an opening. Grabbing the edge, I slowly eased it open more.     

“...So, what are you suggesting then?” The commissioners voice blasted through the window. “This last screw up was ridiculous. I’ll take care of the lizard. You three stay out of it.” I tensed. So I was right. This meeting was important. Yes.

“Now commissioner, no need for that. We understand your frustration. I think we all have been a little hasty in this job,” Fairfax said. I went up on my tip toes. Hasty in the job? Did that mean they were trying to go at Oddswell again?  

“I am sick of you and your easy going smirk!” the commissioner barked. “If there wasn’t good money in this, I would have you in a cell and beaten to death.”

The sheer force of the commissioner’s voice made me wince. This man really needed a vacation...in a jail cell.

“Commissioner, you have such a way with words, but sadly we’ll need Mr. Fairfax for the operation here. There’s a lot more on the line than money,” another man said. He sounded cheerful and a little rough, easy to listen to, like a voice on the radio. I perked up. Now there was a voice I hadn’t heard before. Who was that?

“True, this is supposed to help all of us in the big leagues, boys, but if people keep slipping up, heads will have to roll. You all remember what happened when that owl professor slipped through all our fingers,” another unknown voice chuckled. His was deeper, courser, smooth like a snake and slow. Every word of his was deliberate. Somehow the voice made me shiver, it was so full of humor, but there was tension behind it.

“People lost a lot more than a few fingers,” the first, cheerful, rough voice chuckled.

“Oh, and then they called in those insufferable Cup assassins,” a third unknown voice lamented. He sounded very refined, with a slight British accent. Cup assassins? Cup? What the stars did that mean? Cups were kitchenware, not killers.

“Well, what do you expect? They wanted the job done, and they called the fellas that could get it done,” snake voice said pleasantly. “Their reputation is impressive after all.”

“Hmph! Impressive! That bird was flapping around the cussing country for months! I’m sure some of my grey hairs are from waiting,” the commissioner said.

“I don’t know, I felt pretty good with the top dogs struggling with him. Tells me that I wasn’t incompetent, just that the featherface was that good. Take it as a compliment, commissioner,” Fairfax said. Of course Fairfax would see a failure that way.

“Yes, yes,” the British man agreed. “So, let us not allow this doctor to be a repeat of the professor. You and Fairfax have already hired two prisoners to kill him, and the reptile is still breathing.” It sounded like there were five people in the warehouse. Fairfax, the commissioner, Robert and Bill Sykes and the British man. But who was who?

“I wonder which of you will end up in hell if ya fail a third time,” the snake voice chuckled.

“Bet it’ll be cement shoes, Bill,” the cheerful tone said. What? My mouth dropped, my foot slipped, and I ended up on my knees. The pile of crates swayed, and my fingers grabbed at the wall desperately.

“Hey,” the commissioner tried to break in. Oh-my-stars. Oh-my-stars. Oh-my-stars.   

“Really? I think he’s a bit more creative than that, Rob,” Bill said. Finally the crates stopped swaying again. I managed to stand up--very slowly.

“Too true,” Rob said with a chuckle. “Probably something more like turning them into ice cubes and then taking them to hell to melt.” What was wrong with those Sykes brothers? They were seriously messed up.

As if to emphasize my thought, Bill laughed at Rob’s comment.

“That’s enough!” the commissioner barked. “You two think you’re sitting all high and mighty since it’s not your chore! Tell me, how has finding those B Brothers or reclaiming all the lost goods in Warnerburg gone?” I blinked. B-Brothers? I listened harder.

“Heh, watch your tone there, commish. You almost make me think you're picking a fight, someone could get the wrong impression,” Bill warned with amusement. A chill ran down my spine.

“Besides, the Cups have gone after the B Brothers. They aren’t going to be a problem,” Rob said lightly. “And the loss in Warnerburg is already drifting back. Honestly, do you want us to do your job for you too? We could.” They had sent Cups after those boys? I held back the urge to snicker. That sounded so...ridiculous. Maybe it was a code word?

“It’ll be three quarters your pay though,” Bill said.

“Over my badge!” the commissioner growled. “I will take care of Oddswell. You stay out of it!” My smile snapped off my face.

The two brothers laughed.

“Poor form, chap,” the British man said. “Getting angry won’t help you any here. Only makes you seem unprofessional.” Who was the British man? I needed to be able to see him.

“Look here you ra--” Ra?

“Ah! Ah!” Fairfax cut him off. That made me jump. In fact, I nearly fell off the crates again when Fairfax raised his voice. For a split second I’d thought that somehow he’d figured out I was out there, listening. “I wouldn’t if I were you. He’ll rip your throat out.”

“What is your time frame, exactly, commissioner? The die is gonna roll soon, and I’d rather have some good news when that happens. Dishing out punishment takes so much time after all.” Rob laughed darkly. After I managed to stuff my heart back down my throat where it belonged, I reached up for the ledge. It sounded like they were getting close to finishing their meeting. I needed to see the last man before they all left.

“Are you threatening me you paper pushing--”

“Oh, lay off!” Bill groaned. “You don’t intimidate anyone here.” I imagined him rolling his eyes. “Just tell us!” I made sure my grip was firm. With a little more stretching on my toes, I even managed to get an elbow on the sill.

There was a tense silence. Then the commissioner finally spoke up. “Week from now. One of my cops. It’ll be quick and quiet.” A week! No, no, I needed to focus.

“That will most likely lead to an investigation, won’t it?” the British man asked. Okay, lift! I dangled above the crates for a second. Uuuuuaaaaarrrrrrgggggh. My body didn’t even lift up an inch. Uselessly I kicked my feet at the wall, trying in vain to push myself up it. I really need to work on upper body strength from now on...

“You say that like it’s hard to cover up,” Rob laughed. Geez, Rob, you make it sound like killing people and getting away with it is easy. This was the guy that made it so hard for me to find _anything._ I really needed to stick a wrench in his gears.

“I simply don’t want certain blokes sticking their noses into our business and sniffing around,” the British man said. “Your detectives are already enough of a handful, commissioner.” Detectives? I put my feet back down.

“Please don’t bring them up.” The commissioner sighed.

“Are they really that difficult?” Bill asked. “Aren’t they just a couple of little ladies playing on the boys’ team?” That made me scowl. Chauvinist. His type annoyed me the most.

“They are too keen for their own good. Both of them,” the British man said.

“They’re after the B Brothers too,” Fairfax supplied cheerfully. I tilted my head. It sounded like...they would cause these guys a lot of trouble if they knew about this stuff happening. A slow smile spread across my face. A pair of female detectives that were after the B Brothers, huh. They would be easy to find.

“Well, it will make dealing with the B Brothers that much easier if the ladies bring them in,” Bill said.

“No, it won’t. They’ll watch ‘em like hawks. If we touch them, they’ll be on our trails instantly,” the commissioner said. Definitely needed to talk to these ladies.

“Then reassign them,” Rob suggested.

“Can’t do that without that starfallen Chief Club getting suspicious of me,” the commissioner said. Okay. There was another person I could trust then. I shook my head. Okay. I would try one more thing. I looked down. Rope.

“Ah, old Billy Club. Such a headache.” Bill sighed. Rob chuckled. Someone took a few steps from one side of the room to the other as I scurried down the crates. Bill spoke again just as I managed to make it to the top again. “I don’t envy your position. Let me know when we can deck the old dog. I want in on that one.”  

“Those three will become a trouble, I’m certain,” the British man said. Very, very carefully, I threw the rope up and around the knob on the window. Pulling one end down, I secured it to a heavy box I had taken back up with me. I tied the other end around my waist.

“Then, we will deal with it when it comes up, or maybe we’ll be lucky and the Cups will deal with those ladies for us. They wouldn’t want a black mark on their perfect reputation after all,” Fairfax said.

I dropped the box.

Wham! My body was yanked up faster than I expected. This resulted in my head slamming into the open window. For a split second, I caught a glimpse of the five people inside the warehouse. Four men--and a broad shouldered miniture rat! Then, the rope unraveled, and I dropped.

I’m pretty sure I gave a little scream at that point.

At the last second I managed to grab the rope that had unraveled. I held on for dear life, the rope flying between my hands. And let me tell you--it hurt!!!

The next second I landed on the ground, and I had barely another second to scramble backward as the crates came crashing down toward me.  

“What was that!” the commissioner demanded. Ow. Ow-wow-wow.

“Out back. Someone was in the window!” Fairfax shouted. Stars up above! I scrambled to my feet.

“C’mon, this way,” Bill said. I bolted out of the alleyway and down the street.  They were loud, but I could still barely make out what they were saying. I was sure they were coming. Just as I reached the main part of Toon Town again, I looked back.

I didn’t see anything.

So I continued to run. I know what you're thinking now. Young, bookish girl outrunning terrifying psychopathic mobsters? Not likely. Well if you were thinking that, of course you're right! I think the only things that stopped them from catching me right off the bat was the fact that they had to run around the building and also...I used a speed rune. It's was my first time using it, and it sort of yanked my stomach out of me.

Anyways, once I looked back and saw no one, I turned and ran down the street. Then, finally I ducked into the same little hole in the wall diner I had been hired in this morning. Panting, I turned around and peeked through the crack at the street. Nothing.

“Uh?”

I turned around and saw the manager.

“What are you doing?”

I blinked. “Mr. Wiggins? Um, I thought I had forgot my purse here, so I was just coming back to see if I left it.” I was becoming better at lying. Stars.

Mr. Wiggins raised a brow. He was a tall thin man with short brown hair. “Really?”

I nodded quickly. Walking into the room, I feigned looking around. “It doesn’t look like it’s here, so I think I’ll be on my way.”

Wiggins continued to study me. “Be here tomorrow at seven thirty sharp,” was his only comment in reply.

“Okay.” I waved as I reached the door. Hesitating a moment, I took a deep breath before opening it and peeking outside. If they had followed me here, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to try and grab me in public. That was a plus. But if then again, if that were the case they could be on my tail right now, and I wouldn’t know it. It filled me with a sick feeling.

“Holly.” I turned. Mr. Wiggins frowned at me. “Are you okay?”

I forced a smile on my face. “I’m fine.” I couldn’t stay here, either way.

Unsure of what to do, I left the diner and walked down the street. Should I go home? But what about Shelly? If they were following me, I didn’t want to bring trouble back to her. Maybe...there could be one way to tell?

This thought is inevitably what led me to where I sit. I’m in a tree. It’s a pine tree. In front of Robert Sykes' house. If he comes home, that means they aren’t still searching for me, right? Right? Dumb Dora.

The thing that makes me the most mad at myself is now that they know I was watching them from that warehouse window, they’re probably going to change all their plans. I need to let those detectives know about the potential threat to Oddswell as soon as possible.


	31. September 16, Friday

I was so shaky yesterday, that I didn’t dare climb out of this tree. I’m still here. I didn’t really sleep last night. I’m still a bit too afraid to climb down. Robert Sykes hasn’t come home. That could mean that they are still looking for me. Or maybe they already figured out who I am and are waiting comfortably at my apartment. Either way, I don’t feel safe going back home. I came here for a reason. It was not just because I thought I might see whether or not they’ve figured out where I am. This is literally the last place that I think anyone would expect me to be. Therefore, this is the safest place for me to be...I hope.

It’s near noon, and he hasn’t come back. Wait. It’s noon? ...Noon? Sun, moon, and stars! I was supposed to be at the diner at seven forty-five this morning!!

*Evening*

I got to the diner around twelve forty. Mr. Wiggins was mad. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a face like his when I rushed in through the diner doors. It was flat. He was leaning down to take a empty plate at one table when I arrived. When he saw me, he straightened slowly and set the plate on his tray. “Miss May.”

I gulped.

“Mr. Wiggins, I am so sorry, I--”

He started back toward the kitchen. “Miss May, I can’t have an unreliable employee.”

My stomach twisted like a fresh bakery knot. “Mr. Wiggins, I had an accident this morning!” Wiggins stopped. I'd surprised myself as well, the lie in my head had come suddenly.

He frowned. “An accident?”

I nodded and showed him my hands. There was a long (painful) rope burn on each of my hands. I pointed to my knee, where I had scraped myself in several places, falling.

Wiggins quickly moved to the back and came back with a wet rag. Carefully, he started to wipe down the scrapes on my hands. Then, he lent me the rag so I could scrub at my knees. “What happened?”

I cleared my throat. “I was on my way to work this morning when I saw that article on all the random B-Brothers sightings around the country.” Wiggins went to go and get another rag and carefully bound each of my hands with the cloth. “Honestly, I just wanted a quick look, but the crowd rushed in, and I got banged up a bunch. I grabbed this tassel for a canopy on accident and then got rope burned.” I scratched the back of my head. “Then, I realized someone had stolen my purse, so I had to go to the police. I only just barely got back here.”

Wiggins let out a long sigh. “You’re certainly more trouble than I guessed, but I suppose I can’t blame you for getting hurt.” He jerked his neck toward the kitchen. “C’mon.”

I spent the rest of the day until around ten, working in the kitchen and bringing out food to customers. I have to give credit to anyone who works in a kitchen. It is exhausting, and I realized quickly, doing it in that diner, that I really would have to commit to this job, or I would lose motivation.

That evening, I walked by Fairfax’s apartment. Robert Sykes had never come back to his apartment while I was there, so I was curious whether Fairfax had. His apartment was about a ten minute sprint away from the diner.

When I got there, I watched his window. It was visible from the front, so when I got there, I counted the floors and found it. The light was on and after a couple minutes of watching, I saw the silhouette of a woman holding a wine glass. Fairfax’s silhouette followed her, swooping her up in a romantic kiss. I gagged. In another moment they both drew back from the window and disappeared.  

I watched the window a moment more, and started to walk away. Well, Fairfax wasn’t wasting any time worrying, so maybe they had given up. This hope in my heart, I made the decision to go home. It took me another half an hour to walk there, and much like when I’d first started following Fairfax, Shelly was asleep. Now, that I’m done summarizing what’s happened, I will be doing that too.


	32. September 17, Saturday

Today, I am going to make that anonymous call to the female detectives. If something happens to me, I would appreciate it, reader, if you would be willing to give them this journal. That is all.

*Evening*

My heart is in my mouth. Everything went jake today! So here’s what happened.

I got up at six this morning because the police station opens at seven. When I was ready, I made my way round town until I found a booth that was a block and a half down from the station. When seven came round, I put in my nickel and dialed the police.   

“Toon Town Police Department. Officer Clawhauser,” the cop answered.

I took a moment to breath. “Hello. Could I speak to one of the female detectives?”    

There was a pause and then a sigh. “Ma’am, the detectives are very busy at this time. They are in the middle of an investigation and don’t have time for either an interview or a fan--”

“I’m not calling them for either of those reasons.” I felt a flare of anxiety and anger. What if he wouldn’t let me talk to them? I would be stuck again. “I need to tell them something.”

There was another long pause. “Alright.” The officer sighed again. “Hold, please.”

The line went silent, and I was left alone with my thoughts. What if the commissioner was on the lookout for someone doing something like this? The thought spiked my adrenaline, and I had to fight the impulse to slam the payphone down and leave immediately. No. They couldn’t find me through a phone.   

The phone picked up. “Detective Ringtail speaking,” a female voice said.

Oh my stars. What exactly was I supposed to say at this point? There was so much information. For a moment, I couldn’t speak and fought to figure out what to say in silence.

“Hello? Anyone there? I can hear your breathing.”

“Ah? Uh. I have a tip.”

The line went quiet for a moment. There was a rustling of paper. “Who is this?”

“A police officer is going to make an attempt of Ryan Oddswell’s life soon. They were going to do it a week from Thursday, but they saw me. So, they could do it at any point now. You need to be on watch.” The words poured out of my mouth in a jumble. Was there anything else I should say before hanging up?

“What? Ma’am how did you come across this information? Who are they?” Ringtail’s voice became stern and serious.

“I overheard it. It was a man named Jeremy Fairfax and--”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I dropped the phone suddenly as someone banged on the phone booth door. “Lady, you’ve been in there for twenty minutes already. Other people need to make calls too!” An irritated looking elephant in a light t-shirt glared at me. I stared at him. If I finished my sentence, he would overhear me.

My heart pounded like a woodpecker. I picked up the phone again. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”

“Wai--” I hung up and walked quickly down the street, peering behind me at the phone booth and the distant police station. It would have to do for now. I couldn’t risk calling back again.

The rest of the day went as normal. Wiggins was happy to see me on time (I think he would have fired me if I’d been even a minute late again). Once again, I worked until ten and slowly walked home, my nerves a little less strung out.

Shelly was awake when I got back. When I walked in, she took a deep breath, like what she was about to say really hurt her.

“I got a job.”

That halted her, and for once I wasn’t the one standing there gaping like a fish. It took another couple seconds, but then her face transformed into a bright smile. “Tha-that’s great!”

She wrapped her arms around me and gave a big squeeze. “I’m so happy, I-I don’t know what I would’ve…”

I smiled sadly. “If you were going to pay rent for next month, you would’ve needed to start looking for a new roommate now, right?”

A guilty look crossed Shelly’s face. “Ah. Well.”

I squeezed her back. “It’s alright. If that had happened, I would have understood. I wouldn’t want to make you homeless too.”

Shelly flinched again. “Let me make it up to you. Tomorrow morning, I’ll make us both a nice big breakfast.”

I shrugged and nodded. Then I went into my room to write in here. There’s a lot on my mind right now. I feel good about calling those detectives. I did a good thing. I didn’t have all the proof I wanted, but I still think it will work out. Which brings me to another decision I have made. I may not have every bit of information that I want, or enough proof yet, but I think I should take what I know to the mayor now. He is the professional after all. Maybe after I do that, I can just forget about all of this. I’m still curious about those B Brothers, but at this point, it isn’t something that is my business. I have a job now. I have a life to live. And...I really don’t want to go near any of those men ever again. I thought Fairfax and the commissioner were psychopaths, but those Sykes brothers are the real nightmares. They seemed to find hurting people, killing people _funny._ Even remembering the sound of their voices makes me shiver.

However, there is one more thing I want to do before I tell the mayor about all of this. I want to try and find out who that British rat man was. He’s the only one I don’t have a name for, or any information on. Right now, a little bit of information could make all the difference. So, that’s what I’m going to research.


	33. September 18, Sunday

Today is a very strange day for me. The diner is closed. It is Wiggins' day off. I can’t go to any of the public offices to do research either because they’re not open. I’m far too afraid to continue to follow Fairfax, the commissioner or, Yen Sid help me, one of the Sykes brothers. So, I’m just sitting here in my apartment reading. It’s been a long time since I touched any of the books I have.

I read a bit of the Felix book I got before in the morning. Now I’m studying from a book on the history of ancient runes. I’ve decided that I need to find some good defensive magic. For the last month and a half while I followed Fairfax, I used a specialty rune of mine to make it easier for me to tail him. It’s called Fade. It is a third rank rune spell that originated with an ancient civilization called the Micco. It doesn’t make you invisible or create illusion, like some other more powerful runes. What it does is affect the minds of the people around you. It sends a subconscious message to their brain that you’re not important, sort of like how people know a plant is there, but they don’t really recognize it in the active part of their brain.

This rune is essentially what has kept me from Fairfax noticing me for the last month and a half. I thought it was enough, but after my scare on Thursday, I don’t want to depend on only one spell to keep me safe. I need to know more.


	34. September 19-25, Monday-Sunday

After Thursday, I was still too scared to try and continue following Fairfax or any of the rest of them this week. So, I fell back to my only other resource. Research. Remember the week that I just went to the library, county clerks office, etc? Well, remember that week and repeat it again, except this time I was going mad over finding out who that rat is. Then add to that the fact that I only had forty minutes of research each day before I had to get to Mr. Wiggins' dinner. It was a tedious week. Good thing for you, reader, I figured you wouldn’t want a repeat, so I waited until I found some things to tell you about.

His name is Ratigan. He is known as a dangerous criminal who had an altercation with a mouse called Basil. Basil was knighted by the royal mouse queen and offered a job at Yen University to teach a class on deductive reasoning for criminal science majors. I had no idea that our staff members were so colorful. What surprised me the most is that according to the papers, Ratigan died some time ago in London during his altercation with Basil. There isn’t much else on him here. I was able to identify him by taking what I saw and looking through any newspaper article on a rat. Believe me. This took _forever._

If he is the Ratigan from these papers, and he did fall from the Big Ben in London, convincing everyone he is dead, I assume he must be going under an alias. I'm trying to find it. I wanted to give the Mayor that information on Monday. That’s the last thing I forgot to mention. I called the Mayor’s office and managed to convince them to give me a brief ten minute meeting with him.

I have a little bit of an idea where I might look to find Ratigan’s alias. The immigration office. I can’t access it (Unless I break in, and I refuse to push the line...and my luck.), so I’ve decided when I meet with the mayor, I could tell him my theory and suggest he have his people look through immigration. There are a couple indicators that I just know would help them find a false name.


	35. September 26, Monday

Okay. I got Mr. Wiggins to give me these next two hours, three to four, off. My appointment is at three thirty. Right now I’m sitting in a chair in the mayor’s office, waiting to meet him. I feel a mix of emotions. To be honest, this last week was really taxing for me. I didn’t sleep well, and I was constantly wondering if anyone was watching me. Now, it will all be over.

This experience has taught me that I’ve gotten myself involved in something far more dangerous than my capabilities to handle. So, I’m going to stop poking my nose into this once I’ve given the mayor this info. It will be in much more capable hands. Haha. Not to mention, I’m pretty sure the police force wouldn’t be happy with hearing about me doing all this stuff anyways. I can just focus on working for Mr. Wiggins now and on doing research on runes. In fact, it’ll probably be more fun than going to classes. I’ll get to choose what I learn. It’s going to be great. Wish me good luck. Soon, this journal is going to get a lot more boring.

*Evening*

I feel like there are no good people left in the world right now. This is so ridiculous... I don’t want to talk about it right now. I might start to cry.

 


	36. September 27, Tuesday

Reader, I hope you are my friend. Well, if you aren’t, I’m probably taking a dirt nap somewhere, so it doesn’t really matter either way.

Yesterday, I sat in the Mayor’s office, waiting. I had on my most expensive skirt and blouse. I had my journal in my hands. I had copies of all the articles relevant to my research. After about fifteen minutes of waiting, the mayor’s secretary came to get me. I took a deep breath. This was going to be great. I was going to get a weight off my shoulders. Things would work out. Following the secretary, I went down the hall and into the mayor’s office.

It was a surprisingly modest office. Mayor Medusa's desk was about six feet wide. It had a small office lamp on the edge and a bin with a stack of papers on it. A cluster of sharpened pencils were on the other side of the desk.

The Mayor himself sat behind his desk, scanning over what I assume was a land proposal. He looked up. “Ah! Come in! Come in! Have a seat! What can I do for you today?” He smiled pleasantly.

I smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mayor Medusa. Thank you for being willing to meet with me.” I leaned down to pull my papers from my bag. “I have some things I think are very important to discuss with you about the police department.” As I leaned down, I saw underneath Medusa’s desk. Something tan was sticking out from the bottom, next to his trash can. It was an envelope. For some reason, it struck me as familiar. I frowned. But my talent was remembering. I would know where I’d seen it, if I’d seen it before.   

 “Yes, my secretary said you sounded urgent.” The man scratched his chin. “If the police are involved, I’m glad you came to me.”

I looked up slowly. Where had I seen that envelope? “Yes, so I was in one of your departments a few weeks ago. My purse had been stolen, you see…”

For some reason my eyes were drawn back to the envelope.There was some writing on it. It wasn’t anything special. It was just a date. August 23rd. That’s all that had been written on it. Wait. There was a little bit before that, but it was covered by the desk.  

“Dear, that is a bother. I want these city streets safe. Young ladies should be able to walk about freely! I’m guessing you went to the police for help?” The mayor tilted his head and pinned me with his eyes.

My eyes snapped back up to his face, and I smiled widely. “I’m so glad you’re of that opinion.” I laughed a little in relief. “Honestly, I’ve been afraid that when I met with you, you might not take me seriously, and what I have to show you is a serious matter. You see, when I was at the police station, I overheard a conversation that greatly disturbed me.”

August 23rd. Why did that bother me so? Geez, if I just saw that little bit that was written at the top, maybe I would stop being distracted. I instantly felt guilty. This was the mayor’s mail, and I wanted to take a peek. That was rude. I really needed to control my habit of wanting to learn about everything.

The mayor raised a brow. “Disturbed you? I hope it wasn’t directed at you. After already losing your bag, those cops better be taking their job seriously! Now, tell me dear, what did you hear?” He leaned forward on his desk. Some of the papers on his desk shifted with his movement.

"Uh-huh," I said distantly. I clicked my tongue. August 23rd. Why was that familiar? Oh fine. I shuffled through my papers. “Oh dear, the article I wanted to show you must still be in my bag.” I leaned down and pretended to stick one hand in my bag while the other tugged at the envelope.

Delivery date: August 23rd

I froze, a lightning bolt of pure terror running through my entire body. The perfect image of Fairfax’s office appeared in my mind. _August_ _23rd_. That was the date written on the envelope of cash Fairfax had. This was _that_ envelope. Oh, stars. The mayor--he was one of them!  

“Miss May? Are you okay? Were you able to find what you were looking for? I assure you miss, I will go to the commissioner myself and make sure those that wronged you are set straight. I simply need to know what happened,” Mayor Medusa said gently...persuasively.

I was sitting here with a lap full of evidence that I had been researching the Sykes, Ratigan, Fairfax and the commissioner for the last two months. I had to tense my muscles to keep myself from starting to shiver violently. I dropped the envelope, pinching my arm under the desk. Focus.

When I straightened up, I smiled. I-needed-a-good-lie. I-needed-a-good-lie. Oh, sun, moon, and stars, I needed a good lie!

“Oh now, Miss May. There’s no need to be nervous. I’m your friend here. My citizen’s well being is of utmost importance to me,” Mayor Medusa assured.

I cleared my throat. Okay. What was the most obvious reason I might be coming to see the mayor other than the truth? It was a risk, but it was better than letting him see the papers on my lap. “Thank you, it’s just that the past month has been very hard for me. You see, when I went to the police department, they refused to help me. The lady at the desk even made me go down the filing room by myself and get a form, because she wanted to take a phone call. That’s when I overheard two officers talking about this.” I quickly pulled the article I needed from my file and placed it in front of the mayor.

It was Fairfax’s article. He narrowed his eyes at the paper and picked it up. I could feel the sweat--sticky--on my back. If he thought my protests were related in any way to what they were doing...

“The claims the journalist made in this article have poisoned my reputation and made it impossible for me to find work. I expected the officers to be impartial to this sort of gossip, but apparently, I was getting lesser treatment from them specifically because they believed the accusations this article made. What Fairfax published here is a blatant lie, and I wanted your help to straighten this out. I didn’t want to go to the police department because I don’t feel they would take me seriously after this experience I had.”   

The mayor frowned at the article as he scanned over it. His brows knit together. When he looked back up at me, his eyes were cold for a moment. “Fairfax, you say? He’s from Toon Town Times, right? I know of the fellow. Yes, I can see the falsehoods just after this little conversation we’ve been having. I mean, you? In the mob? Ha! Did you really meet the B Brothers?” He raised a curious brow.

I nodded quietly, my mouth dry. It was normal to ask that question. Everyone had. “Only for a brief few minutes. I didn’t really even have that much of an impression of them.”

The mayor pursed his lips and nodded thoughtfully. “And the police...you haven’t brought this to them yet? Have they ever come to you and asked about your encounter with these wanted felons?”

My stomach dropped. “No. They haven’t.” My mind went blank. I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

He hummed. “No, they haven’t.” He repeated my words slowly, like he was tasting them. He didn’t seem to like it at all. “This won’t do at all. No.” He looked at the paper again and then to me.

My mind clawed for any reason to move on from his inquiry. “I think it’s because giving them directions didn’t break the law, sir.” It was an excuse. “It only broke my work policy. It was entirely a school matter.” A bad excuse.

“Oh no, my dear. I fear you have completely misunderstood me!” Mayor Medusa put the article down, his hand splayed over the paper. Well, I wasn’t getting that article back. “Your character isn’t in any question here. You haven’t done anything remotely bad. You, my dear, are a victim in all of this. It was simply a wrong place, wrong time sorta thing.” I was _still_ in the wrong place at the wrong time. “These officers haven’t been giving you the proper attention you deserve. I mean, you stood opposite two possibly dangerous men and none of them have even been by to ask you about it! How is that any service to the public? No, this will not do at all!”

I had to bite back all my reasoning on how they weren’t dangerous. 

“I will make sure that changes and that the police do their job. Those boys need to be captured and dealt with. I will see what I can do about your marred reputation, dear. Those kind of things are hard to clean, but I’m sure that if we get those boys, you’ll be proven innocent. I will have a talk with this Fairfax too. He can’t be doing this to innocent students in my city.” He smiled charmingly.

Forcing a smile on my face, I nodded. “Thank you.”

The mayor smiled. “No, thank you for bringing this to my attention. There may be a real problem with our paper and police department if they’ve been overlooking this and slandering people. Tsk. Until I get this sorted out...be safe Miss May.”

A real chill ran through me, and this time I couldn’t hold back the shiver. “Yes, I will. I'll have to go and rest after this. I think I’m catching a cold.”

The mayor nodded. “Yes, well, thank you for stopping by.” He lifted his hand to shake mine.

I took it and shook it carefully. “Good-bye, Mr. Mayor.”

“Good-bye.”

When I walked out of Medusa’s office door, I felt like I had been released from a lion’s cage back into safety. It took all my self-control not to run down the hall. I continued to walk at a steady pace all the way out the door and down the street. Three blocks away, I finally allowed myself to run.

When I finally got back to Mr. Wiggin’s diner, Wiggins was in the kitchen. He looked up as I entered. “Holly? You’re back early.”

I laughed emptily. “Yeah, I had a lot less to say than I thought I would. Anyways, I’ll help out in a minute. I got to run to the bathroom.”

Not waiting for a reply, I slipped in the the bathroom and locked it behind me. I covered my mouth and a silent sob escaped me throat. Leaning against the door, I sunk to the ground and wept.


	37. September 28, Wednesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Well, with this last entry, we are finally nearing bringing Holly's Journal up to the present time in the main fic. Lots of stuff is going to happen. It's going to be fun. I hope you enjoy!

I've decided something this morning. I am done being scared and sad. Whatever happens from here on out, I'm going to face it with determination. If I want to cry, I'll laugh. If I'm scared, I'll sing myself a happy song. I'll make it through this.

\- - -

I’m scared...

Ok, I’m not going back on what I decided this morning, but I do need a moment to get ahold of myself (I've literally been humming [Blue Skies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epRXoS_P0lk) by Ella Fitzgerald to myself for the last five minutes). I’m sitting in Mr. Wiggins bathroom right now.

Fairfax is in the diner.

I think his coming here was an accident. He looked as surprised to see me as I was to see him when he entered the diner. But after a moment, he got that expression in his eyes. Do you remember it? The one he got when he first saw my diary. The one that gave me nightmares. Hungry interest.

I stood there, coffee pot in my hand, staring at him when he entered.

“Well, do my eyes deceive me? If it isn’t little Miss Holly May. Working a coffee shop. How do you do?” he asked in his typical charming tone.

I allowed my face to settle in a deep, angry scowl. “Mr. Fairfax. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Get me a cappuccino.”

That instant reply sort of irritated me. I took a deep breaths and turned to walk back into the kitchen. Fairfax’s apartment wasn’t far from here. It scared the horsefeathers out of me, but it wasn’t impossible that he’d come here. I just didn’t expect it because he had such fancy tastes. A moment later I came out with a cup. I may have set it down with a little more force than necessary, but if I did, it was a total accident...maybe.

Fairfax was chatting pleasantly with Mr. Wiggins. The sudden ‘placement’ of the cup cut off what Fairfax was about to say. He seemed startled for only a second, before going right back to charming. “Thank you, Miss May.” He took the cup. “So, do you like working here?”

Another customer called out to Wiggins, and he moved quickly away. “Not as much as I enjoyed working at the school,” I said, putting as much ice in my voice as I could. I tilted my head. “I know you broke into my apartment. You’re a criminal.”

Fairfax’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, but his smile didn’t waver. “Oh my. Quite an accusation there, Miss May,” he chuckled. “Speaking of places to live, why are you working all the way out here in central Toon Town?”  

I folded my arms. “When everyone looks at you like you’re diseased, you take whatever jobs you can. Not that it’s any of your business. Mr. Wiggins opened here recently, and I helped him straighten his books, so he hired me.” Hopefully, that would allay some of the suspicion I was sure was in his mind. The irony of his appearance irked me. I hadn’t even gotten hired here because he was nearby. It was a total coincidence!

He hummed and took a sip of his drink. “The world is a funny place, isn’t it.” He chuckled again. “You accuse me of breaking into your apartment when I have recently discovered a break in at my own home. I wonder if there is some ring in town.”

I stood there for another second, uncertain what to say. A bit more fury pumped into my veins, along with fear. “You probably deserved it,” I scoffed. “Your problems aside, if you’re not going to give me back my journal, then I would appreciate it if you would lower our interaction to nothing the next time we have the unfortunate mischance to run into each other.”

“A journal? I’m sorry, Miss May, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said smoothly and pulled out his wallet to pay for the drink. “And how could I possibly not talk when ‘fate’ has had our paths cross again?” He put the cash on the counter and smirked. “Stay out of trouble now.” He waved over his shoulder as he headed to the exit.

I watched him exit the cafe with apprehension. That was the second time in two days that someone dangerous had told me to be careful...I hadn’t smothered any suspicion in his mind. None at all. A painful shiver went up my spine. Almost zombie-like, I headed back toward the kitchen, catching Mr. Wiggins just as he exited.

“Bathroom,” was all I could get out when he gave me a questioning look. I immediately grabbed my bag and slipped into the bathroom.

That brings me back to where I am right now. Hiding. In the bathroom.

Stars! If Fairfax sees me with this diary, he’ll know for sure. If he knows that, it won’t take much of a leap for him to figure out I was the one outside the warehouse window. I’ll be as good as dead. I may already be as good as dead. Ah, I was such a Dumb Dora to take this journal back from him. I could have just rewritten all the entries from memory.   

That said, I don’t know when I’ll next be able to write in here. Luckily, this journal is small enough for me to hide it under my shirt. I don’t trust it anywhere else. Those mobsters, Fairfax...all of them are far too good. And for some reason, using runes to protect it isn’t good enough.

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. I need to think of a plan. I’m going to be okay. I have to believe in myself. I won’t give up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tap: Well shoot. And things were just starting to look better for this college girl. I thought I could be a mean writer. Mercowe, you took the cake.
> 
> Mercowe: I didn't kill off a child.
> 
> Tap: UNCALLED FOR!!!


	38. "Bends" Chapter: Bendy's POV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bendy's perspective and thoughts when Alice comes to visit him at the jail.

Bendy simmered on his bed. The jail was star-dusted, the guys here were schmucks, and Bendy was stuck here, worrying to death about Boris. Three days. He just had to wait three days for their court date. Then, he’d see Boris again. The detective’s evidence would clear their names, and the two would walk out as free men at the end of the day.

He had already gotten through day one. A couple of the mooks here had tried to talk to Bendy and intimidate him. He hadn’t reacted to them. He just didn’t care. If any of them tried anything, he’d tie them in a knot, but talk was just talk. Just a waste of time…Then again, all this sitting around was a waste of time. He really hoped Boris was doing okay.

The door opened, and footsteps echoed down the hall. A couple of the scum balls whistled. There must be a woman coming in. Bendy didn’t care enough to raise his head to see if he was right. The steps grew closer. There was a tap at his cell bars. “Look sharp buck-o, your little lady friend came to see ya.” It was the friendly old man.

Bendy wasn’t impressed. If those cops really were any good, they would be here to let him out early. He lifted his head to give the detectives a dirty look. Spotting Featherworth, he scowled. His bad attitude worsened. “Ah, so am I free, or are you here to tell me that you’re giving me back my brother? If it’s neither of those, I don’t wanna hear it featherhead. I made the deal. Leave me alone until you get results,” he snarked. He turned on his side and away from the detective. He hated this. He felt like such an idiot agreeing to this. He didn’t know how Boris was. He didn’t have the map or any clue on where the other pieces were without the map. He didn’t know what was going on outside of this stupid cell, and he couldn’t do anything.

Well…he could break out. It wasn’t like they had done anything to prep for his Talent, but then again, he wasn’t supposed to use it either. It made his attacks worse, and if he used it, then everyone would know about it. Life was a lot simpler when people just thought he could dance (and he could). Once shadow powers got added to the mix, everything went downhill. Not to mention, how disappointed Boris would be if he found out Bendy broke out due to impatience and boredom.

“I’m sorry Bendy, no. We are working on it. We’ll keep our deal,” Featherworth said smoothly. Bendy snorted. Yeah, right. Like separating him from his brother was the best thing for them too. Like getting that stupid journal page and running around the country was good for them. Bendy would like to see her try and do this! “But I’m not the one here to see you.” Bendy flicked his tail in confusion. Not her? Then what? Her partner? That oversized rodent had been oddly quiet so far. Bendy hadn’t exactly seen her, but that didn’t mean he would bother to check. They were always a team… _ Together… _ man, he was bitter.

“Now, is that any way to act when your girl is here?” the old guard said with annoyance in his voice. Bendy would treat these cops any way he--Wait, h-his girl? What?

He pulled himself up on his elbow and turned to look back at the bars. “My girl?” He looked at the guard, then turned his eyes to scan the whole group. The old man, Featherhead, and—Alice! “What are y—”

“Hello, Bendy,” Alice said cutting him off. She stepped forward and grabbed one of the bars of his cell. Bendy’s mind shorted out, like a dying engine. Why was she here? What in the world? Why was she looking at him with terror in her eyes? What happened!

He choked and with wide eyes shook off some of his shock. “A-Alice?” He managed to choke out. “What in the name of the moon are you doing here?” He shot out of his bed, off the scratchy blanket, and glanced at the guard and detective for an answer. When neither of them said anything, he focused on Alice again. “What’s goin’ on?”

“I came to talk to you,” Alice said with the fakest smile Bendy had ever seen. Something was definitely wrong. Why wasn’t she telling him? Was it something she couldn’t share in front of the cops? “Something came up, Be--” She cut herself off. Her eyes widened in alarm. Was she shaking? Bendy was completely lost. She didn’t give him time to panic, though. “Bends,” she said quickly.

Bends? What the fallen star? She’d never called him that before. He tilted his head. He didn’t understand what in the world she was doing.

Robert tsked at them. “Your girl comes all the way out here, and you’re staring at ‘er like she’s grown a second head.” He shook his head. Bendy blinked. Had he missed something? Was the old man confused? His girl? Alice? Yeah, right. “Kids these days,” he lamented and took a step back. “Anyway, you have twenty, little miss.” The crow smirked before she followed the guard back so he and Alice could talk.

“Thank you,” Alice said over her shoulder. What the cuss was going on! Bendy took a few steps closer to the bars so they could talk quieter.

“Alice, what is going on? Please tell me this time,” Bendy demanded. He was starting to panic. Was it Tiptail? The doc? Boris? The machine? What! “Why is he calling you my girl?” He thought she still didn’t like him. “Why are you here? Is this all just a really weird dream?” He kinda hoped so. He glanced at the detective. It would be nice to show dream featherhead what he really thought of her stupid deal. He focused back on Alice.

“I had to lie so I could see you,” she whispered. Did they not allow visitors unless the person was close or something? He didn’t remember beakface saying anything like that! “Lean closer. We need to be convincing…and it’s about the ‘you know what’,” Alice whispered. She was an inch away from the bars with an intense look in her dark eyes. Bendy blinked at her tone. She still wasn’t explaining. He had no idea what ‘you know what’ meant at all. It could be anything at this point.

Bendy leaned closer. Alice suddenly reached her hand beyond the bars and grabbed his hand. She gently pulled him up to the bars. Her hand was warm, soft, and really dainty in his. He tried not to focus on it. She was also shaking. Was she afraid? Cold? That strange warmth, which always seemed to be around her like a beam of sunlight, was notably absent. Actually, when was the last time he had felt that from her? Was it really only back at the casino?

The shivering seemed to subside a little. Bendy remembered that Alice had avoided touching him since the casino. She was probably doing this against her comfort. He went to pull his hand back, but she stopped him. Alice laced their fingers together and covered the back of his hand with her other one. W-what was she doing? He looked from their hands to her face and back again. She was focusing on the guard and the bird.

Didn’t she hate touching him? Why had she been avoiding him if she was fine now? Was she just acting because of her lie and in a desperate situation? They were really warm…and nice…“A-Alice?” Bendy’s voice almost squeaked. This crazy dame was quickly becoming overwhelming. Alice’s eyes widened, and her cheeks darkened in a blush as she frowned.

“I need to know where the doll is, Be-Bends,” she said, quietly choking on the nickname. Bendy almost wanted to laugh at how stiff and forced she was, but with the mention of the doll, all joking and embarrassment left him.

“What happened?” he asked for what felt like the hundredth time. His tail flicked in annoyance. She had better say soon, or he was going to rip these bars apart and go see for himself.

“It’s Avery. He’s planning to trade the doll to get the doctor and nurse free,” Alice explained with wide eyes.

“What!” Bendy barked. That snake! That mutt! How dare he! Didn’t he get what the hell that thing meant for everyone? He had to run from a giant snake and fought a voodoo queen to get that thing! No way! He felt Alice’s hand spasm in his. He realized he had clenched his hands, and that he was using too much strength. He loosened his grip on the hand holding hers. “That star-fallen mook! What is he thinking!” That wolf was going to kill their chances of a cure! If Bendy ever saw that smug face again he was gonna—

“Shh.” Alice shushed him. She was looking at him in complete terror. Were his eyes glowing? Or had it just been his tight grasp? Either way, he hadn’t meant to scare her. She was probably thinking of her bully of a boss. Her, uh, ‘issue’ with demons.

“Sorry,” Bendy said quickly, glancing down at their hands, feeling a bit guilty. He shouldn’t get too angry here, he didn’t have anything to let it out on. And like stardust was he gonna take out his frustration on Alice. She was just bringing him the news, after all.

“Got quite a grip there,” Alice said with a smile in her voice. Bendy looked back up. “But before the news crushes you, hear me out.” Did she just make a pun? With that smile, Bendy was sure she did. Wasn’t she afraid of him a moment ago? “Avery doesn’t believe the machine has the cure. He thinks he’s doing the right thing.”

“That doesn’t matter!” Bendy hissed. The schmuck didn’t know anything and didn’t have a right to make this choice for anyone. “If we lose that doll, it’s all over.”

Alice nodded grimly. “I know, so I’m going to go get it before he does,” Alice said with determination.

Won’t that be dangerous?” Bendy raised his brows in surprise. She couldn’t do that!

“Like you said, we can’t afford to lose it,” Alice said with a smile. It was full of understanding. She seemed to know what she going to do. “Besides, I know how to take care of myself.” He frowned. Sure she could. she had shown him that before. She had helped his brother at the casino. Bendy knew she was tough…But…what if she faced guys like the Cupbros? That had been terrifying, and he didn’t want her to be in a situation like that. “C’mon. I don’t have a lot of time.” Couldn’t she get Xedo or someone else to do it? Alice lifted their linked hands, like she was pleading with him. Her eyes widened, and her brows drew together in concern. “Trust me. I can do this,” she whispered. He knew that! I-it was just…He couldn’t! He’d have to stay here with no clue if she was okay or if she had failed and the doll was gone. Again.

Bendy didn’t want to wait. Bendy looked at her and suggested, “Maybe I could break out of here and—”

“No.” Alice shook her head with alarm in her eyes. “You’ll only get in more trouble, and then it’ll be longer before you’re free again.”

Bendy sighed and shut his eyes. He weighed the pros and cons. If he stayed, he would be keeping his deal with the cops. He could be free in two days. He’d see Boris sooner. He wouldn’t have to wear a disguise anymore…except, he thought he would still have to hide from that Cup guy. If Alice did this, though, she could get hurt or worse. Granny and the house could be in danger. They could lose the machine piece. Who knew where Avery’s trade off would take it.

If he broke out, he could stop Avery, get the doll and find somewhere better to stash it. That would save Alice from doing anything dangerous and protect Granny Gopher. The problem was--then what? He would have broken his promise. Who knew when he’d see Boris again. He’d be wanted again. He wouldn’t have the map, so there was no going after the parts. He didn’t know if he could even bring himself to leave with Boris still in a cell. He didn’t know how to find the pup and had no clue how to get him out. Besides, there was a chance he could show up outside his cell, and Boris would refuse to leave. He hated breaking promises.

No. The choice was obvious. He had to trust Alice. She would have to handle this on her own. This was…uncomfortable for him. He didn’t like it. He opened his eyes to see Alice looking at him with an odd expression, like she was a little checked out.

“Don’t do anything dangerous, okay?” Bendy told her. Alice nodded. He really wished he could just go with her. “Remember that room you found us in the other day?”

Her small nose wrinkled in confusion. It was cute. “That odd study?”

“Yeah, there’s a row of journals on the far-left bookcase. Third shelf from the bottom. It’s behind those books,” Bendy told her. He really hoped this was the right thing to do.

“’Kay, that should be easy enough,” Alice said. She nodded to herself, Bendy could practically see the gears turning in her head. She was already on the other side of the city planning in that room. She distractedly went to pull away. The hand that encircled his dropped, and she pulled at her other. Bendy tightened his grip and stopped her. He needed to tell her…something. She could be putting herself in serious danger here. Like he and Boris were in danger, like the doc. He just wanted to say something, but what?

“Hey.” Bendy swallowed are his dry throat. “Be safe and...uh, thanks.” Alice’s thin brows shot up in surprise. Stars, he was falling flat on his face here. He should have said something cool. “You didn’t have to come here or try to do any of this,” he tried to explain.

Alice’s surprise softened into a smile before she huffed at him. There was a spark of amusement in her dark eyes. “What kinda of person would I be if I didn’t do anything? How little do you think of me?” She smirked at him. Bendy almost chuckled at her tone of indignation. “Now, I better go. I don’t know how long I have before Avery will show up and try to take it,” Alice said, trying to pull back again. Hold the phone. She was messing with him and thought she could just get away with it? No sir! He was gonna get her back before letting her go. What could he do real quick? She was pretending to be his girlfriend, right?

Oh. He could work with that.

He glanced down at their hands, and then back up to her confused face. He smiled his cocky grin. He squeezed her hand, lightly. “You’re supposed to be my girl, right?” Besides holding hands and standing close, they hadn’t really done anything to convince anyone that they were an item. He wondered how much of a reaction he could get. “Aren’t you supposed to give me a goodbye kiss?” He knew it was cheeky, but boy. The face she was pulling! Bendy bit his cheek to stop from laughing.

Her full lips made a little ‘o’ of surprise, dark eyes widening to comical levels. Her cheeks flushed. Heh. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, trying to recover and hide her flustering. It didn’t work. He could see right through her. “Don’t push it, buster.” There was no bite to her words.

He could push it further. “Aw, but you’re the one that said you can’t have your cover blown,” Bendy pointed out. Alice scowled. He grinned. Her face was glowing! Oh man, she was cute when she was embarrassed. She narrowed her eyes at him, but didn’t say anything. This was not how she acted when guys flirted with her. She was always cool, collected, and distant, like a flower at the top of a tree. She seemed impossible to reach. To see that he could get to her was a pleasant surprise. It was very different than when he had first talked to her. She was a lot nicer and approachable now.

She wasn’t even cringing from touching him anymore. Before, she’d pretended like it didn’t bother her, but Bendy had noticed her discomfort for a while. Seeing her react like this made him wonder what her deal was. She could be so confusing. Now wasn’t the time for that, though.

He raised a suggestive brow. She wasn’t answering. Had he stumped her? She took a deep breath. “Sorry, ‘love’, but the bars are in the way.” Sarcasm dripped from her lips. Bendy had to hold back a snort of laughter.

He played along instead. He furrowed his brows and looked over the bars like it was the first time he’d noticed them. He let his smile drop into a small frown. “Guess you’re right,” he sighed dramatically and shrugged. “We’ll have to kiss when I get out.” Bendy smiled again and looked at her. She frowned, but seemed to be ready for that one. Oh, he had one last trick. He just hoped it wouldn’t get him slapped. Alice snorted at him. “Until then.” Bendy unlaced their fingers and turned her hand so the back of it was facing up. He looked into her eyes as he gave the back of her hand a chastising kiss. He let her hand go a second before she unfroze and yanked it back through the bars.

Oh, stars! Her blush went from the tip of her ears all the way down her neck. Her jaw was hanging open in complete shock.

Bendy somehow stopped himself from bursting into laughter, containing it as chuckles he hid behind his hand. That was the best face he had ever seen her pull! Stars and a moon! If only he could have a picture of it!

“Y-y-you!” she sputtered. Uh-oh. She might have forgotten about the guard. He better stop her before she said anything that could get her in trouble.

“Now, be safe, babe, and let me know as soon as you can.” Bendy winked and gave her a teasing smile. The guard was heading toward them. Time must be up.

“Are you ready to go?” the old man asked. Alice nodded with a dazed look in her eyes. She was rubbing the back of her hand. Bendy was a sad to see her go. It was the first time he had laughed in this place. She turned and started to walk away. Bendy sighed to himself.

Alice paused and looked back to him. “I should be able to let you know by tomorrow.”

Bendy blinked and then gave her a curt nod. She would be fine. She’d come back and let him know everything was okay…right? Until then, he’d just. Wait.

Yeah.

She smiled at him reassuringly before turning away, heading down the hall and out of view. Featherworth winked at him before following. Bendy scowled at her and went to lay back down.

Now, all he could do was stay put and worry himself nuts. Stars, he hated this.

  
  



	39. October 3, Monday

Today I left my apartment for the last time. I am filled with apprehension, but for some reason what’s happened gives me more peace than fear. I don’t have to fear for Shelly. I’m sitting inside a public bathroom stall. A quick summary of what’s happened the past few days.

I quit my job.

After Wednesday, Fairfax came back. Each day he would stop by at least twice. A couple times, he brought his lady friends, talking about the B Brothers right in my face. Then, the next time he came in, he would have the gall to try and flirt with me.

As if his conduct wasn’t strange enough already, he then would leave me large ‘pity’ tips while complaining constantly about my work. Other times he would keep me waiting on his order for at least five minutes, complaining about how magic was cheap and runes were flimsy. That annoyed me, but it was easy to ignore. What made the difference was this:

He started to talk about how scary stalkers were. That made me go quiet. I told him that he should know plenty about how stalkers acted since he was a professional one.

Then, he started to get suggestive. He mentioned how odd it was to get surprise packages in the mail. On Saturday, I saw him talking to Mr. Wiggins. Wiggins walked away, and I couldn’t help but be curious about what they’d said. I went to bring Fairfax more coffee.

Fairfax smiled at me. “You know, your boss mentioned, he seems to have a pest problem. Alley cats…” Fairfax lingered on the word. “He told me they knocked over a pile of crates out back. I think alley cats really should be more careful. Your boss is funny fellow, keeping cats.”

It was stupid, and a sappy threat. But it made me realize this could affect others. Sure, Fairfax was trying to get a rise out of me to see if I knew what he was talking about, but he'd mentioned my boss. Fairfax was playing a game. However, if at some point he decided I was suspicious enough to go, who knew whether someone else might accidentally get involved? I certainly had. Shelly could get involved too.

So, I quit my job and decided to take this decision a step further. I found Shelly a new roommate. This morning, I took a few important things in a bag with me and left. All this happened quietly. I tried to move as quickly as I could. Now, I'm sitting in bathroom stall, wondering exactly what to do from here. I don't have much of a plan. It's the first time. Who knows what will happen.


	40. October 9, Sunday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S. Tap writes all characters that have already shown up in Inky Mystery. I've only written Holly, and characters that have only shown up here, so there is a little bit of action and reaction when other characters show up.

Sleeping in the park is not as bad as I thought it would be. Pine needles smell pleasant, and if I make a good enough pile, the ground isn't that hard.

I have to be honest, though. The first three days I was homeless were pretty horrible. I realized near the end of the first day that I would run out of money fast if I went to a cafe to get food every day. That said, I didn’t have much money in the first place. I didn’t really eat that much until the end of the second day, when I realized there are soup kitchens and halfway houses out there willing to help you.

It rained the second night...and that hasn't been the only day/night it's rained since my odd homeless existence has started.

The first day, I tried sleeping on a bench in town--that didn't work. People yelled at me. It was hard, and I’m pretty sure I saw a creepy old man watch me as he walked by. The second night, this policeman tried to cite me for sleeping in the open. I ran. I don’t have money to pay for a fine...At that point, I decided being in the open was not a good idea. Especially since I’m not sure how extensive the Sykes’ network is.

I tried not to be stupid, either. When I left Shelly, I prepared a few necessities: a big bag, a blanket and a small pillow, one change of clothing, a little cooking tin I bought with my wages from Mr. Wiggins, a pair of utensils, and of course, the pepper spray I bought two months ago. I am also trying to save what little cash I have left over from my wages, but I'm being careful with that. I have no idea when I'll get money again.

I know. I know. I could go to a halfway house and sleep there. However, the whole point of making myself homeless is to help me stay _hidden_ from them. Also, using Fade is easier when I blend in anyways. That's what I do every night. I find a good pine tree in the park, crawl under it and use my little dinner knife to write the Barricade rune repeatedly in a circle around me. That is one of the runes I learned the Saturday after I listened to the meeting at the warehouse. Also, before I moved out of my apartment, I also created a little wristband with the Fade rune sewn into it. So, that rune is constantly activated. It took quite a lot out of me the first day, but I think now my body has adjusted to the energy drain. Other than hiding out right now, I don't really have a concrete plan though. Tuesday, I tried to get in contact with those female detectives again, but they had been sent out on some big assignment, and I was told I wouldn’t be able to get in contact with them for at least a week.

Also, with no other leads, and no idea what else to do in order to keep myself safe, I decided to visit the house I had sent the B Brothers to. I was curious. This is what happened.

After waking up, I went to the park bathrooms, washed my face, brushed my hair and gave my clothes a good beating. That done, I decided to skip breakfast (It's easy to do when you don't have any, and you don't have time to work at the soup kitchen to earn it.).

It took me most of an hour to walk to the house. When I got there, I immediately got an eerie feeling. The sun wasn't out, and it had started to get a little cold. The house looked grey, bleak. I gulped. With no other ideas, though, I knocked.

There was a crash and some yelling. As it got closer to the door, I started to make it out.

“No Avery, I’m fine! Avery, I’m getting the door!” an old woman’s voice shouted. There was a pause and another voice answered. “Then, go and get it! I’m getting the door!” The other voice said something. “Oh hush! I have shoes on! I’m fine! I know what glass is.”

The door swung open and a short, hunched over gopher stepped out. She had on thick glasses that shined over her beady eyes, a simple dress with little flower patterns on it and a cane. “Hello?” she asked.

I hesitated. I don't know what I had expected, but an old gopher wasn't it. Maybe she knew Oddswell?

I grasped my hands together. “Um, I'm sorry. I thought this was the residence of Dr. Ryan Oddswell?”

“Oh, it is! You’ve come to the right place dear.” The gopher smiled. “That is, unless you want to talk to the doctor. He has been in jail for a while now.”

“Who is it?” a male voice called from inside.

“Just a nice, young lady. You starting on that glass?” the gopher shouted inside. There was grumbling before Holly could hear a broom sweeping and the little tink of glass being moved around.

I glanced down the hallway and back at the old gopher. “Actually, I know that the good doctor is in jail. I was one of his students. Who are you?”

The gopher smiled warmly. “I’m Ginger, but most call me Granny Gopher. It’s rare for one of the doctor’s old students to come by.”

“I just had a few questions and had hoped to find some here. How do you know the doctor?”

“Ah, well, I’m one of his patients.” The old gopher’s smile turned into a smirk. “Or as he would put it, ‘subjects.’” She chuckled.

I blinked. Oh, so it was true that the doctor had been doing some sort of health research then? I grimaced. Subjects? Oh, Professor Oddswell!

The gopher saw her expression and laughed. “Oh, don’t worry dear. He means well. He is just a bit out there. Anyway, I’m sure you have questions. Why don’t you come inside, and I get us some lunch, yes?”

I blinked again. If anything, I'd expected no one here or to have the door slammed in my face. “Ah, yes. I would be grateful. Thank you.”

“Not ‘et Gran! Dere’s still glass awl over dere,” the other voice said.

“Avery dear, come here and say hello to--Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.” She turned back to me.

I smiled at the old gopher. I was starting to like her. “I apologize for not introducing myself earlier.” I held out my hand for her to shake. “My name is Holly May."

“Holly May, a beautiful name.” Granny took my hand and patted it like a dear friend’s. It brought a warmth to my heart that I hadn't felt in a while.

“Hawly, ya say?” A tall, lean wolf leaned around the corner into the hall. “Well, nice ta see da sunshine in ‘ere. Oh wait, it’s you.” The wolf smiled at me.

I opened my mouth and closed it. Huh?

Granny tsked. “Now Avery! What about Red?”

“Come now, I was jus’ given ‘er a compliment.” Avery came around fully and grinned at both of us. I smiled awkwardly. It looked like this guy was a flirt. Another patient?

Granny shook her head. “I can see why you got in trouble with her. Let Granny give you some advice, no woman likes a two-timer.”

Avery’s ears dropped. “Bu--”

The back door slammed opened.

“Granny! Granny! Can’t I pick a couple apples? Please!” A little squirrel came bounding in and stopped a foot in front of old woman. He nearly knocked over the wolf in his excitement. I tilted my head. A kid? He couldn't be a patient, could he? Which brought me to another question that I had been pondering since I became homeless, what exactly had Oddswell been using them as patients for?  

“Now Steven, what did I say?” Granny looked down at the youngster.

“Aaaaaah, yes?” Steven’s tail swished back and forth.

Granny laughed. “You!”

Steven grinned.

“She said no, an’ dat’s no!” Avery put a hand on the boy’s head.

“Awww, that’s no fun.” Steven frowned. “They look good.”

“We’ll have lunch in a minute.”

“Lunch!” Steven jumped up and turned. Avery grabbed him and lifted him in the air.

“Hold da phone, kiddo. I still gots ta clean up dat glass,” Avery said. Avery went back to the kitchen, leaving Holly with Granny and Steven.

“Hello! Who are you?” Steven turned on her. “Are you a friend of the doctor’s?”

I smiled brightly at him. He was adorable! “Well, I don’t know if he would call me his friend, but he was my teacher. My name’s Holly. How do you do, Steven? You’re quite a sprightly fellow!”

Steven pulled a confused face. “A teacher? But I thought he was a doctor?”

“He’s both.” I raised a finger. “After all, doctors need to teach other people so they can be doctors too.”

Steven turned to Granny. “Does that mean that a different doctor will come to help you with the medicine, Granny?” he pouted. “I liked Dr. Oddswell. He was funny! I don’t want a different doctor when I ink.” Ink? What did ink have to do with the doctor? So, the child was a patient. But why? Even Oddswell wouldn’t experiment on a child. Did that mean it wasn’t just random experimentation?

Granny looked pained. “No, dear. We’ll have to wait for the doctor to come back himself. He’s a specialist when it comes to the two of us.”

Steven blinked. “But, aren’t all doctors specialists?”

“Well yes,” Granny chuckled. “But he’s the only one that’s looked into this certain sickness.”

“Why?”

“Heavens that I know, boy.” Granny sighed. “And you’ve asked that a dozen times.”

Steven smirked. The lack of doctors must have something to do with this conspiracy. I frowned. What benefit could mobsters and corrupt politicians have in keeping sick people from a cure?

I touched the old gopher’s shoulder lightly. “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly is it that Dr. Oddswell was treating you for?”

“Ink Illness!” Steven hopped up and stated.

“Ink Illness?”

Granny sighed. “Looks like it’s going to be a long lunch.”

“Lunch is the best! Are you eating with us, Miss Holly?” Steven asked. “I’ll tell you all about ink illness.”

I gave a little chuckle. I really liked this kid too. I didn’t even have to ask that many questions. “Of course.”

It wasn’t long before the kitchen and dining room were accessible. Granny and Avery brought out sandwiches, soup, and salad. Granny had a pitcher of lemonade. It was all fresh and perfect. My stomach grumbled ruefully at the sight of it all.

As we ate, Steven talked about how he first got sick. From what I gathered, at first his chest and stomach hurt, and then, he would cough up this scary black substance. Granny claimed that it was actual ink. Because it scared his family, they sent Steven’s brother away to live with an aunt in Warnerburg. They were afraid he could be contagious, and it had taken a long time for them to find the doctor. All the other doctors didn’t really know what to do.

Granny jumped in once in awhile to explain the details of the sickness and how the doctors ‘lost’ the samples of ink they collected. I sensed the same type of fishiness that accompanied Richard Sykes and Fairfax. They had fingers in so many pies...This meant that Oddswell was the only one doing any serious research into the illness. The others had either quit early or hadn’t believed that the illness was real in the first place. I was skeptical too. 

Granny and Steven said they are bad enough that they had decided to live with the Oddswell. He monitored them around the clock. Granny knew how to make the pain medicine now, but not much beyond that.

“Mr. Jerry used to stay with us too, but he left when they arrested Dr. Oddswell, cause he called them.” Steven scowled. “The jerk was trying to get Bendy and Boris in trouble, but they got the doctor instead.” When I heard that, I blinked. So the B Brothers had come here. And it looked like they’d had some problems.

“Steven!” Granny hissed and looked at Holly alarm. “We talked about that!”

Steven’s eyes widened. He stood on his chair, leaning over the table, hands on either side of his plate. “Please don’t tell anyone Miss Holly! Bendy and Boris are great! They’re nothing like the papers say they are! Honest! Jerry was being stupid and believed the papers! He got all of us in trouble too!”

“Steven, sit down, and mind your manners,” Granny chastised lightly. Steven’s ears dropped, and he sat back down.

“But they’re not bad. They’re not,” Steven mumbled.

I was quiet for a second. I didn’t know exactly what to say. I didn’t want to make the young squirrel sad, but I could reassure him when I didn’t know myself one hundred percent for sure if those boys were good. “Actually, that’s the reason I came here in the first place, Granny. I wanted to learn more about them.”

Granny turned to me and narrowed her beady eyes. It was the first cold look I had gotten since entering the home. “You’re here for the BBros? You’re not a reporter are you?” Granny asked suspiciously.

I instantly gagged in surprise. “Reporter? Heavens no! A reporter was the reason I got fired from my job. No!” I shook my head, a shiver running up my spine as I thought about Fairfax. “I wanted to learn more about them because I was the one who gave them the address for this house about two months ago. A series of events happened, and it left me with some questions and concerns. I simply want to know whether they are good people.”

“They are!” Steven jumped up again.

“Steven.”

“Sorry, Granny.” Steven sat again.

“Ya mighta dodged a bullet dere, liddle miss. Dem boys bring trouble,” Avery said.

I couldn’t help but twitch at that. _Dodged a bullet?_ I had to control the urge to laugh ironically. But I had accepted that _I_ had decided to helping them. I blatantly refused to blame anyone else for my troubles.

“It’s hardly their fault, Avery. _You_ are just as much trouble,” Granny Gopher said.

Avery chuckled. “Too right.”

“So, dear.” Granny turned back to Holly. “Your questions.”

“So, why did they come here? I’m assuming it has something to do with this illness. But why are you here, and they had to leave? Why are the police after them, really?”

The three shared a look. “Yeah, why are the police after them?” Steven parroted.

Granny straightened up. “Well, this may take a while. They were sent by a gentleman named Wilson Wiseton.” Professor Wiseton? His name kept on popping up every once in a while. “He did that while he was traveling, found the sick and sent them to Oddswell. Then, the doctor would try to help them the best he could.” Which meant that for some reason, this illness was the common link in this conspiracy. “Bendy came and golly gee,” Granny shook her head, “He is one of the most confusing cases the doctor had ever seen. The doctor couldn’t understand how he was still standing. He has almost an attack a day, yet he recovers so quickly.” The gopher shrugged. “I get one, and I’m done for a week!”

A wave of surprise went through me. “Daily?”

“Nearly,” Granny said. “And they don’t fit the regular ‘pattern’ of an attack either. They happen in stages.”

“First is chest pain and coughing,” Granny said. “And some fatigue.”

Steven nodded with his mouth full of roll.

“The second is ink. He coughs up ink, and the stomach and chest pain worsen. The physical pain becomes crippling. Thinking clearly becomes difficult,” Granny said.

“It’s hard to breathe,” Steven added.

“The third is...melting.” Granny grimaced.

“Melting?!” Disbelief shot through me. How was that even possible? You couldn’t liquefy a body. It was a solid.

“It’s really scary,” Steven said, looking at his half eaten roll. My mouth dropped. Then...this kid had that happen to him? “It hurts, and it’s hard to move, and if it doesn’t stop...” Steven gulped and shivered. A deep sense of unease went through me. This didn’t sound real, but none of these people (other than the wolf) struck me as people would lie. Especially this child.

I stood up. “And nothing is going on to try and find a cure? Isn’t there anyone else other than Oddswell who is qualified to try?”

“Qualified sure, bot willin’, meh.” Avery spoke up. “I asked aroun’, an’ dem docs deny and deny. Da body don’t melt and den turn back ta normal. People don’ cough ink.”

Granny nodded. “And the ones that are interested have difficulties getting test results. The ink lab results are often inconclusive and witnessing an attack is tough. There’s no set time it happens, and they’re quick, so it’s not like you can have an attack, rush to the doctors and say ‘here! Look!’ and hope they listen. The rest of the time, we’re fine too. It’s like it just disappears until the next attack.” Granny shrugged. “We seem very odd, completely health and wandering around the hospital, waiting for an attack.” The gopher rolled her eyes.

More unease settled in me. All of this really seemed unreal. My conspiracies were one thing. A hidden illness that liquefied people was quite another. Yet, my emotional senses told me that Granny was sincere. And I trusted those senses.

“That’s...a lot to take in.”

“Sorry, dear. There’s usually no way to give it out softly,” Granny said. “We’re in a very difficult situation, as you can see.”

Steven frowned. “No, Bendy and Boris will fix it.” He stuffed the other half of his roll in his mouth.

Granny smiled. “We hope so.”

I looked at him. “Without the doctor, how is that possible? Those two are mechanics, right?”

“De’rrr unna il uh mashhhen!” Steven tried to say.

“Don’t talk with you mouth full, sonny,” Granny said.

Steven swallowed. “They’re gonna build a machine!”

I frowned. “What?” Now I was even more confused.

Granny sighed with a gentle smile. “It’s Oddswell’s and Wilson’s discovery. There was an ancient machine that made a cure for ink illness. This isn’t the first time the world has suffered this disease, apparently. The boys are out looking for the parts. Oddswell thinks it’s the best shot we have.”

At this point, I didn’t have much else to say. I had more questions, but these things felt so personal to them that I didn’t feel right asking them painful questions just to satisfy my own personal curiosity. It wasn't like I could help them. I knew a little about biology from Oddswell’s classes and others, but not even close to enough.

At the door, as I prepared to leave, I stopped. “Was any of his research saved, by any chance?” I said quietly.

Granny smiled...It was the saddest look of resignation that Holly had seen in a long time. “Who knows.”

Tonight, I walked back to my tree in the park very slowly. I’m sitting in an upper limb. I don’t really want to sleep right now. What is my purpose, exactly? What is the point of all of the things I have found out? I can’t help anyone. I can’t tell anyone. I can’t stop the bad. What exactly can I do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, when I started writing this journal entry, it didn't occur to me that Steven would still be alive at this point. Then, just before he appeared...it hit me...I'm so-sorry. So-so-sorry. 
> 
> Tap: and you've been saying I'm the cruel one. I couldn't bring myself to get that close! AAAAGGGGH!
> 
> Holly's the one that randomly decided to visit! 
> 
> Tap: Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm getting tissues. 
> 
> T-T


	41. October 10, Saturday

Ink Illness is real.

I went back to that house. I had an idea. I wanted to share it with Granny.

I was a block away from the house when I saw them. Granny was weeping. She looked older than before. The wolf walked beside her, shoulders hunched as he led her down the path from the house.

They were in black.  

It shocked me so that I just stood there and watched blankly until they disappeared round a corner. When I finally got my sense back, I followed them. They arrived at a graveyard, and not long after that I saw a small coffin.

That was enough.

I feel sick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tap: YOU WENT TO HIS FUNERAL! Look, I was cruel by the sudden death of a child. I will own that, but at least I don't revisit it!! T~T Dangit MErcoWe! WWwhHy!!!
> 
> *Hides under covers. Starts mumbling.* You're planning worse...Holly's too curious not to try and find out what happened...I have plenty of excuses to hide behind... *Rolls into the fetal positions.* T-T 
> 
> Tap: *Gasps* 0o0 TRAITOR! How dare you even hint at the things the plot will bring! I TRUSTED YOU! 
> 
> *Becomes one with the blanket and vows to forever stay with it.*
> 
> Tap: =3= see if I ever tell you anything ever again. 
> 
> *Congratulations, Mercowe has evolved into BLANKET. Rename?*
> 
> Tap: =_=||| Um...you okay there? Mercowe?...Hello?


	42. October 11, Tuesday

I woke up an hour ago. I’ve sat here, under my tree, thinking again. Yesterday, I had planned to talk to Granny about helping her make pain medicine. I was thinking that maybe I could research a rune that might help them in some other way if I saw the symptoms myself.

I’ve changed my mind. The reason for this is part cowardice and part rationality. I don’t want to see the symptoms because inevitably with my mind, I’ll end up imagining about what happened to that boy. I don’t want that.

I am a coward.

But at least if I put my mind to this, I can be a useful coward.

This is what I want to do. I can’t do anything about the mob, commissioner and mayor. I don’t know anything about biology...I can’t find a cure. But there is one thing that I am good at doing. Research.

Granny says that there are more people out there with this illness. I’ve never heard about it before, for sure. So, maybe they haven’t either. They are out there, confused and scared with no help. What I _can_ do is try and find them. If I can do nothing else, I can help those people, direct them to a place where maybe they can find some hope. And the moment that the information I know can be used, I will see to it that it is. I _will_ get in contact with those female detectives.


	43. October 12, Wednesday

I found something! So, at first I scoured the newspapers for any mention of ink illness. After just a little research, though, I found that there was nothing in the big newspapers. I remembered. Richard Sykes. Yes. I wouldn’t find anything in a newspaper like the Toon Town Times. So, I started to hunt down newspapers from the smaller publishing places, less reputable ones, like the Higgly Horrors, the Toon Tornado and The Scrutinizer.

This, ironically, was were I found the best information. I found news stories of strange locked room disappearances (complete with a picture of a an empty room with an inky puddle in it). There was a drunken doormouse that claimed that the famous “Cheshire Cat” had vanished right in front of him, leaving only black. A bear claimed he was melting like the witch of the west. There were a few others as well, all with a strange explanation attached to their state of being. With a little bit of legwork, I found names.

I met with the family of the disappeared toon and found out his brother had Ink Illness. The bear’s name was Humphrey. The Cheshire cat was fine. I nearly got lost after talking to him, though. (I couldn’t think straight, literally, for at least an hour after talking to him.) That feline highly disturbs me.

I talked to each of them about the little I knew. Last of all, I gave them the same address I gave Bendy and Boris. I find that slightly ironic now. A little thing like an address caused such a ruckus in my life, and now has the potential to do good in others. It’s an interesting sort of irony.

On that note, a light rain is starting now that’s gotten dark. It’s so...cold. I don’t think I’m getting much sleep tonight. *Teeth start chattering.*


	44. October 13, Thursday

THEY’RE BACK!

Okay. Okay! I can’t get ahead of myself. Last night I didn’t really sleep, so when the sun came out and things dried up, I ended up falling asleep on a park bench and sleeping through the morning until around eleven (I would have slept longer, but then someone almost sat on me because I was still using Fade.). I didn’t have a chance to go to the soup kitchen yesterday, so I was feeling on the empty side. That being the case, I made my way there.

I spent most of the afternoon with a group of other homeless people helping the soup kitchen lady clean out her dusty basement and cook the meal. I was dead tired by the time I left (With a full stomach. Victory!), so at first I didn’t notice the extra buzz on the streets. I was nearly back to the park before I noticed a discarded newspaper.

**B-Bros Sighted in Old Toon Town!**

I quickly read the article and found out that those boys had been sighted while running away from an unidentified figure. I have a few guesses about why they might be back. Granny said they were collecting parts? For a machine that can cure this disease? Is there a part to be found here? Do they have a place here in Toon Town where they’re taking the parts? If they’re back in town here, are they staying at Granny’s? The area they were sighted wasn’t near Granny’s though. But where they were sighted isn’t necessarily near where they are staying.

I considered going to Granny’s house, but it was late, so I decided to visit there tomorrow.


	45. October 14, Friday

I got evicted from the park.

This morning, I woke up to find police officers combing the area. Apparently, they want to make sure that the “fugitive murderers” weren’t hiding out there, so a considerable effort is being put forth to be thorough with this search. Annoying commissioner. I took this as my cue to leave.

I’m pretty sure I can still come back tonight, but I think hanging around the park for the rest of the day is out of the question. So, I headed toward Granny’s.

It turned out that my luck was running pretty consistent today, because no one answered. The house was quiet as death, and the neighborhood was even more eerie than usual.

That being the case, I went back to my research.

I found two more today. One was a toon called Ben Ali Gator and the other was a shady fellow called Br’er Fox. Ben was easy to find. He was in the newspapers for harassing a doctor. He got a night in a cell and was released, but the paper did mention how he claimed that the doctor simply refused to treat his sickness.

Br’er Fox was a little more difficult to find. He’s a sneaky fellow. The newspaper claimed that he had been convicted of assaulting a Br’er Rabbit and trapping him in a tar pit. It sounded similar to ink, so I checked it out and found that it all was a misunderstanding (He was trying to eat Br’er Rabbit. He just hadn’t captured the poor bunny in a pool of ink on purpose. He had been chasing the rabbit when he’d had an abrupt attack.)

So far, after going through the papers, I’ve been able to find and confirm the existence of Ink Illness in five people.


	46. October 15, Saturday

This morning I went to try to go and see Granny again. All the usual things happened. I got up, headed to her house, had a good half an hour walk there.

Then I saw it.

There was a black car sitting across the street from Granny’s. I was still several blocks down, so I knew they couldn’t see me. When I saw them, I stopped, considering my options. Just who were they? The Sykes? Something about a sleek creepy black car parked menacingly in front of a house reminded me of them. Either way, whoever they were, they were watching. I couldn’t go up to the house.

But I could try and find out who they were.

I turned around, walking back down the street until I reached a narrow pathway in between two houses on the opposite side of the street. I went down the path and looped around until I was behind the house the black car was directly in front of.

I looked through the back window of the house to make sure no one was there. When I didn’t see anyone, I tiptoed through their backyard until I was at the side of the house. I peered at the window of the black car.

There was no one there?

I frowned and started to move back when I saw movement from the corner of my eye. I looked back at the car. I couldn’t make out much. It was dark inside the car, so all I could see was the black silhouette of what looked like a hoodie. It was definitely watching Granny’s house.

But no one had been there a minute ago.

I stared at the figure, studying it (him or her?) carefully. The most I could make out from where I stood was that it was a little chubby. It’s sort of funny. I wasn’t sure what to do after that. I didn’t want to leave because what if I could catch a glimpse of it? On the other hand, after an hour, I hadn’t seen anything more (I did, however, have another heart attack when it simply vanished again and reappeared.).

When another hour passed, and it didn’t seem that this dark figure intended to do anything malicious, I started to get up. That’s when I noticed Granny’s door opening. It was that wolf, Avery. He strolled outside, his hands in his pockets. The black car, which hadn’t made a sound the entire time I’d watched it, glided forward, about a block behind the wolf.

It was downright spooky.

I followed the car, which followed Avery. But nothing really happened. Avery dropped by a corner grocery shop and headed back was a bag or two. Another hour later, all three of us were back at Granny’s house, and I still hadn’t been able to make out much more of the darkened figure.

The car settled back in its original spot. It was afternoon now, and my stomach grumbled. With a sigh, I headed toward the soup kitchen.

One last note, though. As I’ve been going through all the obvious strange articles, I also kept an eye out for more vague signs of ink illness. I found a couple of clips. One of them said,

 _Tragedy strikes the circus! Rabbit retires from show business after sudden loss of wife and assistant._   
_  
_ Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit, has been off stage for a time now. His young wife and stage assistant, Ortensia Rabbit, shockingly passed away this week. Oswald’s younger brother, Mickey Mouse, announced that the rabbit magician won’t be returning to the stage anytime soon. Despite this sad loss, The Fantasia Circus will still be performing across the country. Many fans mourn the loss of the young wife, mother, and star. No other details have been released to the public by the family at this time.

This sort of sudden death is what makes me most suspicious. I know I’m probably being overly paranoid about it, but with so few people knowing about this, all of the unexplained deaths I’ve been reading about in the obituary seem questionable.


	47. October 16th, Sunday

**INK ILLNESS STRIKES TOON TOWN! THE EPIDEMIC THAT NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT!**

Need I say any more?

Where ever they are, they’ve managed to do it! No matter how the newspapers try to deny it from this moment forward, those papers will be out there, and people _will_ read them. And everyone, _everyone_ who’s seen the illness will know it’s true. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! This is amazing! Victory! The best part is that it seems that they have some sort of evidence that would clear Professor Wiseton’s name as well. I really want to know what it is!

If only I could find them.

Still, reading that paper filled me with warmth. I visited Granny’s block again after seeing the article this morning. The black car is still creepily parked in front of the house. But well, that was the least of it.

There were reporters everywhere. I may have gagged at the sight of them. So...many of them. I literally couldn’t see the bottom portion of the house because the crowd was so big, and they all had equipment with them. In addition to this, whenever someone walked by, they would pounce on that person and ask them questions. I almost got nabbed too, even though I was nearly two blocks away. I had a nervous panic attack when that happened and realized that Fairfax might be there. However, strangely enough, he wasn’t. I’m guessing that Robert Sykes is chewing him out for what’s happened right about now. I don’t know how those boys got the news out, but I have to say “well done”.

Also, guess what I found out? The mayor’s speaking about Ink Illness today…

I’m smiling, a little satisfied. It would be satisfying to watch how he tries to talk himself out of this.


	48. October 17, Monday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I had intended on get all the way caught up to where the main story is, but someone (Tap) distracted me. (Although, to be honest, we distracted each other. The chapter she's working on is hard.) This is what I have for this week. I might post more later, but that depends on how life goes. I hope you enjoy!

My head is spinning. So many things happened...

There weren’t as many reporters at Granny’s today, and the windows looked dark inside. Mr. mysterious in the black car was as creepy as usual. If this person was sent by one of the Sykes, wouldn’t they have acted by now? The Sykes brothers strike me as men of action.

I spent a couple hours there, watching the reporters and the strange black car. Since that newspaper had been released, I sort of have lost much of the fuel I had in the past days. With the newspaper out, people will hear about the Ink Illness. They don’t need me to go find them and tell them about Granny. Well, I suppose they could use the pain meds, but with so many people popping up now saying they have it, I’m not sure that Granny could make enough. I did tell the few people I met at the commissioner's conference about going there.  

As it drew close to evening, I headed back to the park. Something strange happened then. I was making my way through the wooded area (Once I head toward the park, despite the fact that I highly doubt anyone is following me, I put extra energy into Fade and do my best to use a unique pattern to get to my tree.). I’ve been sleeping in an area of the park that is more heavily wooded, a bit farther off the path. I was just about to head deeper when I noticed a nicely dressed fox sitting on a park bench. That was a little strange. Usually the types of toons who come into this area of the park are exercise buffaloes or workout cheetahs. What made it a little more strange was the fact that he wasn’t reading or anything. He was just sitting there, occasionally scanning up and down the pathway. Concerned, I stood back in the woods and watched him. Finally, curiosity got the better of me. I checked my pocket for my pepper spray, slid my bracelet off and approached him.

“Are you looking for something, sir?”

The fox's head snapped up to me with perked ears. He took a deep breath and sighed in obvious relief. “Holly May.”

I frowned, concern running through me. I stuck a hand in my pocket and touched the pepper spray. “Yes? Who are you?”

The fox stood up and offered his hand with a smile. “Xedo Tiptail, journalist for the...Well,  _former_ journalist for the Toon Town Times. My, that will take some getting used to.” He muttered the last part with a frown.

I once again resisted the urge to gag. A reporter. And even worse...He was from the Times. “Well. Sorry to have taken a minute of your time” (Or even a second). I turned around, starting to head back up the path. Obviously, it was time to move if someone could find me here.

“Wait! Miss May! I know you haven’t had the best interactions with journalists from the Times, but I assure you that mean you no ill will! I need to speak with you.” The fox followed me at a distance.

“About what, exactly?” (Dang my curiosity, I couldn’t help but ask even when I was mad. Well...I suppose it was all for the best.) I continued to walk, although I did slow down.

The fox glanced around like he was expecting others to be around to overhear him. He pulled a newspaper from his bag. It was the paper from yesterday. “About this.”

I tilted my head and stopped. “Okay?”

“You’ve read it I hope.” He smiled. “I hope my work was moving.”

My brows shot up and my mouth dropped. What a cheeky fox. “You wrote that!?” I grinned.  

“Yes, judging by your smile, you approve?” the fox asked. “I have been on the search for you since this was--well, I wouldn’t say ‘published’, but brought to the attention of the public.”

Trying to find me? Why? I nodded. “How did you manage it?” How did you manage to avoid getting put on a chopping block by Robert Sykes? I frowned. “And why are you looking for me?” As far as he knew, I didn’t have anything to do with this, or know anything about it, unless granny sent him, which I doubted. We’d had nothing more than a pleasant visit.

“Well, it helped that he fired me before hand. But that will have to be a story for another time. Somewhere more private.” He straightened up and put the paper away. “For now, I was sent to apologize for a pair of individuals that meant you no ill, but have heard of your hardship. They are deeply sorry for what happened to your schooling and job.”

I’m sorry. I nearly laughed at him when he said that. That was the last thing I’d expected to come from his mouth. It seemed like such a long time ago that it almost didn’t matter to me anymore. Although, I was impressed. Those brothers had gone out of their way to send this reporter to say sorry to me? I was surprised they’d even remembered me at all. On the other hand, what good did an apology do me, really? I nodded slowly. “I see. I accept their apology. Although, if you wouldn’t mind, I would like to talk to them in person.” Potentially, I could tell them some of the things I knew. I wasn’t sure how much it would help. And I wanted to know more about what they were doing.

Tiptail seemed a little taken off guard by my request, but he easily recovered. “I’m sorry. At this time, it’s best that they don’t receive visitors,” he said apologetically.

The smile fell off my face. Really. After I spent the last few days trying to go to Granny’s house and find them. After all this waiting, being positive, being patient, no? After two and a half months of wondering?  

“I hope you can understand. Someone already tried to...get them this week. The incident appeared in the papers, but it seems that witnesses didn’t see it that way.” Tiptail cleared his throat.

I took in a deep breath, letting it out in a long sigh. “I see.” So I would have to follow him then. Honestly though, I didn’t blame him for being careful. I was just determined. “I remember reading that article. Are they both okay?” It sounded like they’d been having a hard time of it as well.

Tiptail nodded. “As good as they can be. Hopefully, you will get to meet in the coming future.” He actually bowed to me. “Thank you for your time and help. You did a lot of good helping them, Miss May.”

I nodded to him. “I appreciate you taking the time to come talk to me.” He started to walk away, and I stood there, waiting patiently until he had his back fully turned. Then I slipped on the Fade bracelet and put as much energy as I could spare into it.

Xedo Tiptail is a fox that is good at losing a tail. Oh. I just told a pun. Haha. Unfortunately, though, I had magic on my side. So all the times he checked his surroundings and double backtracked, I simply stood there, playing the bush (As I’ve decided to call it.).

Then, we arrived at his apartment. Xedo disappeared inside. As I took a moment to gather myself, I realized a number of things. This was old Toon Town, the same area that the brothers had been sighted in. That gave me confidence. I had wondered if they might be somewhere else, but that one fact made my guess that they were with Xedo more realistic. I took a few more deep breaths as a few last moment fears ran through me. What if they really were evil? No. There had been too much proof to the contrary. Well, one of them was a demon, what if he cursed me because I surprised him? I frowned. I knew...one rune that warded against evil. A teacher of mine had mentioned it once in my basic runes class. It was supposed to be an advanced working, but of course I could still remember it as clear as a bell. What if there were some sort of demon magic defenses he had up?

Well...then I was toast. Extra crispy...with a little butter and jam on the side. Peanut butter sounded nice too...I might be a bit hungry right now. Moving on. I had tried as hard as I could. This in mind, I mixed a little dirt with rainwater on the ground and made mud. I wrote the rune on my arm, underneath my shirt. Okay. It would stay, and I could instantly activate it if I needed to.  

Then, I knocked.

A smallish fox opened the door, surprising me. I had expected Xedo. “Is this Mr. Xedo Tiptail’s home?” I tried to be as polite as possible.

“Depends who’s asking,” the small fox replied defensively. Well. This fox was just as wound up as the other one...and me! He leaned against the door, attempting to look intimidating, but really just looking extremely adorable.

“My name is Holly May. I’m here to see Bendy and Boris.” I jumped a little when there was a yip in the background. The small fox slipped. The side of his head hit the door. Ouch. That looked painful.

“What!?”

A moment later, Xedo finally was at the door. His face was crumpled in concern, and he looked floored when he saw me. Ah-hah! I had succeeded in surprising someone. Well, there was a first time for everything. “What’s all this about?”   

It was starting to look like he still wouldn’t let me see them, even though I had gone through the trouble of following him all the way here. “Sir, when you met with me today, you yourself admitted that I most likely lost my job because I helped them.” Falling apples! “I deserve a face-to-face meeting.”

The adorably small fox cut in. “What makes you think we know where they are?” Well, there was the fact that you both started freaking out the moment I mentioned their names. It was like I'd just turned on a bunsen burner underneath their tails. Also...

“Well...There was that yip just now…” The jaws on both foxes dropped. “And there’s the fact that the newspapers reported sighting those boys in an area near here a few days ago. And then to top that off, today you show up with a message from them. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence.” They both tried to talk at the same time. I could hardly understand what they were saying. It was pure terror. Well. I wasn’t going to get anything coherent from either of them for a couple minutes. So, I would just have to be proactive about this and let myself in.

Ignoring their half baked explanations, I scooted past them and strode down the hall. It ended in a living room. It was empty. Turning toward an open doorway, I saw a kitchen with a table in the middle.

The wolf and the demon were there. Both of their eyes were wide. They looked at me as if I were a gorgon with a head full of snakes. The demon was pale, and he looked ready to run. The wolf had his ears perked and ready, and he looked as if his eyes could fall out and roll across the floor at any moment. It would have been extremely comical, if it weren’t for the fact that I seemed to be literally about to scare them out of the room. They needed to know I came in peace. I folded my arms, trying to look more casual (Like that was going to help at all.). “Hello, boys. I got some questions.” The wolf gulped, and I wondered if this was how a mugger felt while he was robbing someone. Neither of them seemed to be in the mood to talk, so I continued. What might show them that I was on their side? Ah. Wilson. They had met him. And I really did want  to know. “Do you have proof that Wilson was innocent?”

The demon blinked, looking confused now. “Uh?” His face drooped. Oh my goodness. I resisted the urge to look closer. That...was adorable. But he was a demon?! How...old was he? He couldn’t be ten could he? No. I thought back to when I had met them before. He had been pretty serious then. It was just that his surprised face made him look a lot younger.

Feeling a little nervous, I unfolded my arms again. Maybe just be direct then? “I’m not here to call the cops on you.” Really. “I just want to know if what you are claiming through Xedo here,” I nodded towards the stunned fox, “is real.”

This finally seemed to awaken them all. The demon blinked and Xedo finally moved from the doorway. “Ah, well, I think we should all have a seat then.” The smaller fox kicked the door shut in annoyance, following Xedo back. Brothers? “Would you like anything to drink? Tea, soda pop, water?”

My mostly empty stomach danced in agreement. No. I had made plenty of assumptions about how good these people were, but I had no proof. It would be just my luck to trust someone and end up poisoned. I took a seat on the end of the couch. “I’m fine, thank you.” Now that everyone else was regaining their senses, I was growing more nervous. The adrenaline I’d walked in with was gone. I was in a room full of strangers...Something twisted in my stomach.

The wolf sat across from me, and the demon joined him a moment later. He sat back completely relaxed, a foot resting on his knee. Geez. Someone was pretty confident. The older look was back. A minute ago, he’d looked like he was ready to dive through the apartment window. It did endear him to me a little. He recovered fast. I liked that.

“So, what can we do for you, Miss?” His face was now a half smile. Yes. This was the demon I remembered.

I took a long breath. Okay. How exactly did I want to approach this? Mention the mob? Talk about the assassination attempts on Oddswell? Ask them questions about this illness? I realized that after talking to Granny, I didn’t really want to revisit the subject again this soon. The thought of that little squirrel still churned my stomach. But I didn’t feel confident talking about the mob or Oddswell either. At this point, it seemed like a whole lot of distressing information that there wasn’t much they would be able to do about either. Why bring it up and upset them? They’d met Oddswell. It would probably worry them too. What did I want from these boys, really? I thought about the emptiness I'd felt when I realized there was so little I could do--for Steven, for anyone with Ink Illness, to stop the corruption running rampant through the city. I wanted to help. So maybe I should go back to what I had said before. That felt better. I wanted to hear about Wilson.

“I want to know about Wilson Wiseton. Mr. Xedo mentioned him in the article he published yesterday. I want to know what really happened to him.”

The wolf looked confused. “Did you know him?”

I shook my head, feeling a little embarrassed. It must look weird. I didn’t even know him. But he was my idol. I really truly wanted to know. “Sadly no, but for some time, I’ve admired his work. I had just joined the ancient history program at Yen University when he was accused of murder. To put my intentions here simply, if you can prove to me that what you’re doing here is real, I want to help you.”

Once again, everyone looked at me like I was a gorgon.

Was it because I was some random stranger? It had that been a bit strange? But they were doing a good thing. Right? I wanted to help. Xedo spoke, “Are you sure that is wise, young lady? What we are doing here is quite dangerous.” He entered the room with three cups of tea, and I had to stop myself from staring at them longingly. “Not only are we under threat of being arrested, socially scorned and having our names going down in history as terrible criminals, but all of our lives are at stake here.”

Xedo’s words caught me off guard, and for a moment, I didn’t know what to say. I realize that? I’ve had terrifying mobsters chase me? That would be stupid and not very helpful. Ultimately, I had made the decision to get involved with this permanently when I’d overhead Fairfax. So, in a sense, I'd already made my decision. They didn’t know that, and I didn't want to take the time to explain everything else. They did, however, know I had lost my job. “Well...since I lost my job helping a certain pair of brothers, I would say that I’m already invested in this.” A surge of determination flowed through me, and I leaned forward. “And I refuse to fear the actions of the criminal.” Well, I try to refuse to fear their actions.

A sudden movement caught my eye, and I noticed that the demon’s face had fallen. His lips were pressed together with emotion, and he seemed upset, deep in thought. Oh. He probably felt guilty about the fact that I’d gotten fired. That wouldn’t do. He wasn’t allowed to take responsibility for that. That was mine. “However, I don’t want you to feel like that was your fault.”

The demon looked up in surprise and the wolf shared a look with him. I felt nervous again suddenly. That looked like silent communication, if I’d ever seen it. I was sort of jealous. I wondered what it was like. “I made the decision to help you two. I am the only person who is responsible for that decision. Just like I am the only person responsible for my decision to come to you now. I just want to know if I made a good decision.”

“You are a very responsible young lady.” Xedo’s words made my heart warm. I smiled a little. “I can assure you that you have made the right decision here. There are certain events I have left out of the article for the public’s sake and ours.”

The demon sat forward and rested a hand on his foot. “Alright. We’ll tell you as much as you want, but it’s a secret, obviously.” I raised my brow. A secret? Wasn’t that the whole problem they were trying to fix? People keeping secrets?

I nodded and looked at Xedo. “If you don’t mind me asking, wouldn’t it be more effective to try and spread the news and gain more support? With even this first article, you’ve gotten many people’s attention. People would be willing to help all of you.”

Xedo set down his mug. “What you read yesterday was an article on ink illness, on how Dr. Oddswell and Wilson were trying to find a cure and how the boys were sent by Wilson to the doctor to help with the illness.” Yes. I understood that from Granny, but I had a feeling there was more to it. Xedo smiled. Xedo was harder for me to understand. I couldn’t totally read his emotions. “If I am ever able to print an article again, you will read about how Wilson discovered that this isn’t the first time our world has faced this cursed disease and the existence of a machine that is able to cure the illness. This is what Wilson was after. This is our goal. What I won’t have in that article is that this is what the boys are searching for, and they are the only ones that have a chance of finding it.” The fox chuckled, rolling his eyes. “If you don’t mind the cliche, they are the chosen ones.”

That sounded a little cheesy. I almost told him so when his other words caught up in my brain.  _This isn’t the first time our world has faced this cursed disease_. What? It had happened before? How? When? Was that something Dr. Wilson had been looking into? Curiosity ran through me like fire. “How do you know this? Do you have records? Could I see them?”

The brothers shared another look. Then, the wolf pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. My excitement spiked. What was it? I leaned forward to see...a blank page. What? I glanced at the wolf. Was he holding it flipped? I peered over the edge one corner a little and only saw more blank page. Huh?

The demon--Bendy (I should probably start using their names.) pulled another paper from his backpack. This one had something on it. Gently, I took the edge of the paper and studied it. Immediately, I recognized the characters. It was the Micco language.

“What’s this one supposed to be?” I pointed at the blank one.

“It’s a map I got from an angel,” the wol-Boris said. He looked happy. His tail was wagging! Why were there so many cute creatures in this apartment?

“It’s supposed to show us where the machine pieces are. But it’s been a bit tricky,” Bendy clarified.

“An angel?” Skepticism, curiosity and wonder warred inside me. I studied the blank page this time, feeling slightly ridiculous. I glanced at the demon. “An angel gave a demon a,” Skepticism was winning, “map?” I rubbed my mouth. Okay. It was blank. What if it was a magical blank map? After all, angels depended heavily on magic, runes especially. “If that’s true, then it must be of magical origin.” And angels didn’t give out things randomly, especially magical items. “If it’s that special, it can’t just be from the Upper.” Something clicked in my brain. “Could it be from the Sanctuary?” That’s where an angel would keep a special magical item. Where no one else was allowed.

...Which ultimately lead me to the thought that it made no sense that an angel would have given it to them, even if Bendy hadn’t been a demon. Angels had a serious problem with demons. I’d heard of angels banishing demons on sight. No questions asked. I tried not to let stereotype color the way I saw the world, but considering the reputation most demons had, I couldn’t entirely blame them. Which was why it was so weird that I’d been so easy going about the fact that Bendy was a demon before and now. I decided it must be because he just didn’t feel malicious. “So, you’re telling me an angel gave you this?”

The wolf’s ears dropped and his eyes grew unimaginably big. I felt a metaphorical arrow go through my heart. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “She was really bright. I couldn’t really look at her. She was warm and smelled like spring and rain and reminded me of sunshine. Her voice was super strong too, like trumpets. She wanted to help me.”

Bendy comforted his brother. “So yeah, he got it from an angel.” His accusatory expression made me feel even more guilty. “And we can both see it, but it doesn’t seem like anyone else can.”

But that wasn’t the point. The angels… I looked down. “It’s just highly unusual. Angels don’t give out favors normally. What you’re talking about is very rare. Seeing an angel outside the Upper is unusual.” I sighed, handing the blank paper back to Boris. Well, I couldn’t do anything with that...but I could with the other page. I looked at the Micco text. “This, however, looks like it’s written in ancient Micco.”

“Micco?” Xedo pulled out a notebook and pen. I immediately had a bad flashback to when I’d had my interview with Fairfax. Gag reflex. “Do you know anything about this?”

“The Micco are one of the races that existed during the Angel and Demon War. It’s uncertain exactly how, but they were wiped out somewhere around that time. Before, during, after, the historical records aren’t very clear.” Xedo started to write on his little notebook. I felt a definite sense of unease at that. What was he writing?

“So, what do you think?” Bendy distracted me. “This the proof you were looking for?”

I looked back down at the page, considering. This definitely was something else. “It’s a start.” But there were still so many other unanswered questions. Nothing they had told me gave me any clue as to why the mob would care about all of this. I looked back up. “Where did you get this?”

Bendy grimaced. “Wilson gave it to me.” He looked down. “Along with his dying wishes.” This time the wolf comforted his brother.

I felt guilty for bringing it up. Yet, now I wanted to look at the page even more. Just why was it so important to Professor Wilson? Despite my curiosity, I felt like I needed to be even more respectful of the fact that Wilson had given it to him. I handed the page back. “I’m sorry.”

Bendy shrugged. “It’s not like I asked for any of this.” He took the page. “We tried to translate it, but it came out about as useful as the map--so barely useful at all.”

I blinked. Well, that wasn’t a problem for me. The Micco had been one of the races that had used the most runes, so I was very familiar with the way they worked. “I can translate it. It will take some work, since Micco wasn’t my emphasis at at school,” I’d been trying to focus on runes in general, “but I have the right resources to take a good swing at it.”

“Really?” Boris’ eyes filled with hope. “Can you fix the map too?”

Fix the map? Fix the map? I didn’t understand a single thing about the cursed piece of parchment. “Do you mean fix it as in ‘have other people see it’? Because I have no clue as to why other people wouldn’t be able to see it.” I rubbed my mouth, considering the possibilities. What if it was connected to the Micco too? “But I can try and do some research and see what I find.”

“No, no.” Boris waved his hand. “We need it to show street signs and modern things.”

Bendy nodded in agreement. “It changed depending on where we are and where the part is, but it seems extremely outdated. You know magic, so can’t you add a symbol to make it, I don’t know, name a city block?”

I frowned. He was talking about...runes? “Magic? You mean runes?”

“Yeah.” Bendy pointed at the bottom corner of the blank page. “There are three lines of symbols here.”

I couldn’t help but snort. “Well, I can’t see anything, so you’ll have to write them out for me.”

“Sure.” Bendy motioned to Xedo. “Let me use your notebook.” Handing it over, Bendy slowly started to switch between looking at the page and writing in the notebook. It felt sort of eerie, because I instantly recognized the symbols he was writing as Micco runes. Old ones. Really, really old. To the point that if my talent wasn’t memory, I probably wouldn’t recognize them at all--even with all the studying I’ve done.

He ripped it out and handed the page to me. “Hmmm. Protection, Immortality, Sight, Location, Direction.” I was really giving my talent some exercise with this. I couldn’t help but look at the blank piece of paper again. Was it really there? “Most likely, there’s also some sort of invisibility rune. And...I don’t recognize this one.” I tapped it. That one could be a problem. If I didn’t know what it did, how was I supposed to know how it would affect the working as a whole if I tried to change it? It could be really dangerous.

“And what does that all mean?” Bendy interrupted my thoughts.

“The protection rune keeps anyone from destroying the map. Immortality keeps time from decaying it. Sight...is sort of like...you can’t hide what you’re using the map to find. Whether it’s hidden inside or under something, this rune makes the location of what you’re looking for exact.” That last part probably made no sense. It was hard to explain. “And location and direction are pretty much self explanatory. They tell you where to go.”

It was one of the most complex workings I’d ever seen.

“Sounds simple enough.” I nearly choked when Bendy responded. Then, I smothered an urge to laugh. I loved ironic moments, and this was just too ironic. Bendy shrugged. “So, how do we make it so we can use modern landmarks and streets? All we see are fields, forests and rivers that don’t exist anymore.”

I stared at the runes. This...was going to be really hard. If the people who had made this hadn’t bothered to put something in it to keep it up to date, could I? Well, I wouldn’t know if I didn’t try. “I think I can figure something out for you, but it’s going to take time. You see, I have to be careful about what type of rune that I add here. Runes affect each other. I could ruin one of the ones already being used if I choose wrong. Also, if I add a rune here, you might lose something important that the map is showing you now. I don’t know if you would be able to get that back later, especially since this map is so old.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. I was talking about potentially ruining one of the oldest artifacts I’d seen in my life. “Honestly, if the circumstances were different, I would seriously argue for you to stick this in a museum. These runes are about as old as that journal, maybe even older. In other words, they also date back to the Micco civilization.”

Bendy considered. “As long as that machine is still around somewhere, that’s all I really care about.” I understood his reasoning, but how quickly he dismissed this potential problem made me uneasy. However, there wasn’t any way I could test what might be lost if I changed the map, so there really wasn’t much I could say to that.

“Thank you for helping us,” Boris said, his eyes back to being wide and powerful.

Losing control of myself, I instantly blushed and felt foolish. “No need to thank me. I just want to clear Professor Wiseton’s name,” and find the connection between all of this and those mobsters, “and I honestly find this work fascinating.”

“To each their own,” Xedo said sagely. “Still, you do us a great service. How long do you think it will take to finish the map and journal?”

Back to thought mode. “It depends on which you want me to do first. I would need to test out how the runes react together before I try them on the map. It could be a couple hours, or a couple weeks.” Or a couple years. Or maybe never. “As for the journal, I think it would take a day or two if I can get back into the Yen Library.”

“The map.” Both brothers spoke in unison. Well, that was quick. I gave a mental shrug. Now that I’d seen that journal page, I could remember it perfectly and translate it when I wanted to.

“We need to get that next machine piece as soon as possible,” Boris said determinedly.

Wait. Next piece. That reminded me. I knew ridiculously little about this whole machine in general. “ _Next_  machine piece? Now that you mention it, how does a machine come into all of this? You said it had the power to cure this disease. Does that mean that ink illness is related to magic somehow?”

The look that the brothers shared was grave. “We don’t know,” Bendy replied.

That...that...if they didn’t know, how did they have hope that it would work? Wait, Wilson had sent them on this chase. I’d always admired Professor Wiseton’s thoroughness. Could he have known something that he hadn’t been able to tell the boys before he passed? Maybe that page could tell me more. “Next machine piece.” I tasted the words. “That means you have one then? Have you seen any runes on it?”

Uncomfortableness wafted through the room like a rotting egg. Oh. I’d forgotten that they didn’t know me, and probably didn’t have any reason to trust me. Come to think of it, I didn’t know them either. Despite all that I’d heard about them, we were still strangers. Which was maybe another reason I hadn’t been totally comfortable telling them about all that I’d discovered. It was just easier to allow them to assume I knew nothing.

“No runes,” the wolf pup offered. Bendy scolded him with his eyes and the wolf apologized silently, ears up and eyes surprised.

Well. I couldn’t blame them. “I understand.” Inwardly, I sighed. “This is very sensitive information right now, and you don’t know me.”

I stood up, watching Bendy’s expression transform into surprise. I slipped the paper Bendy had given me into a pocket. Might as well keep it and make a note for each experiment I tried (Never waste paper.). “I’ll work on these runes and be back.” Argh. I really wanted to know. “However, at some point, if you come to trust me, I would like to see your machine part.”

Bendy considered, looking surprised at first. “We’ll see,” he said, standing. “Thank you for talking to us and not calling the cops miss.” He winked.

That surprised me. I’d forgotten the little demon was a flirt. Inwardly, I smiled.

Boris stood up as well. “Yeah! You’re the bees’ knees if you can get our map working!”

As with the last two times, the wolf’s expression got me right in the feels. I smiled a little. “I’ll try my best.”

Ah, there was one more thing I needed to do before I left. I turned to Xedo. “Thank you for having me. And I apologize for barging into your home. I didn’t see any other way to convince you to let me talk to them, but it was still rude.”

The fox chuckled, offering his hand. “No need. You have some impressive nerve. Not anyone would go chasing down a man to find wanted murderers.” Not everyone had runes to walk into the house with either. I was just happy I hadn’t had to use them. Although, I wasn’t sure how much it would help because of my lack of experience in these things.

“We’re not murderers!” Bendy frowned. The memory of Steven saying the exact same thing the exact same way jumped into my mind. My stomach dropped. That’s exactly how that little squirrel had reacted. Horsefeathers. Stupid memory. Stupid, stupid memory.

“And all for the sake to discover the truth about someone you respect. I admire that. If you ever want to be a journalist, I think you could be in the top bracket easy.”

My smile widened again, although I couldn’t put all my heart into it. “Thank you for the compliment. I’m afraid I find living people far too difficult to deal with sometimes.” (Far too difficult.)

I decided it was time to leave. I cleared my throat. “Anyhow. I should be going. Whether or not I figure this out, I’ll contact Xedo by tomorrow with an update.”

The little fox opened the door for me. I walked out quickly. When the door clicked shut, I let out a big breath. Walking down the street quickly, I took a break at a small public bench. Taking out the paper with the runes on it, I looked at the symbols again. Not that I needed to. But having something solid in my hands made all this real. I had to find a way to do this. Which meant that my next stop was Yen Sid Library.

I took my time getting there. I really didn’t have a huge amount of energy these days, and walking into the apartment had taken adrenaline. An hour later, I was there.

I kept my head down as I walked through campus, careful not to make eye contact with anyone. It had been long enough that everyone here should have completely forgotten about Fairfax’s article. I shouldn’t have any trouble.

When I entered through the front door, the atmosphere hit me like a wave. It was as if I had spent the last couple months eating dry biscuit and had just taken a bite of moist, rich chocolate cake. The very air of the library sang with flavor, knowledge, with potential. I could feel the magic in here. Slowly, I made my way to my favorite corner, forgetting my reason for being there. It was a small cushioned chair, right next to a stain glass window that had runes inscribed into it. Sitting there, I closed my eyes, feeling the cool atmosphere press against my skin and smooth out the aches of my muscles. It was so special. It was so familiar. Actually, this was where I’d gone after visiting my mother for the last time. It had brought me peace then. It brought me peace now. I’d missed it so much. A couple tears rose in my eyes, and I rested my head against the back of the chair, feet tucked up on the cushion as I sat sideways on it. I had missed it so much.

Next thing I knew, someone was shaking me awake.

“Miss, we’re closing in fifteen minutes.”

What!!!

“Oh, uh. Okay?”

The librarian nodded and started to walk away. Fifteen minutes? Fifteen minutes! It had taken me an hour to walk here! If I had to go back to the park now I would be wasting so much time?! I scrambled off the chair and toward the card catalog.

Micco. Micco runes.

I scrambled my way through the notations written on the cards, making a mess and leaving them scattered on the table.

“Five minutes until closing!” I heard a voice a couple shelves over call out.

Stars!!!

I ran a hand through my hair. I couldn’t leave. I had so much to do.

Unless…

I found a way to hide in the library and wait until everyone was gone. Then, I could spend all night studying.

Something snapped in my brain at that moment. (I’m writing this tomorrow, by the way. As I sit in my library chair  _in shame_.)

I had to stay.

I neatly gathered the Micco catalog cards and put them back in the shelf. Then, I calmly activated my Fade bracelet and waited next to one of the exits (Just in case.). People filed out slowly, none of them giving me a glance. I was careful not to move as I waited, trying to think little ornamental tree thoughts. That’s what I imagined people saw me as, I hoped.

When the last of the people exited, the librarians started to flip off the lights. Finally, the last four of them disappeared through the front doors.   

I was now alone in the library…

I had the entire library to myself…

A slow smile formed on my face. This was going to be amazing. I stood in the dark for a moment and then took a pencil from the circulation desk. I took a writing card and drew the rune for light on it. Putting just a little power in it, so it shone with a just soft glow, I went back to the catalog cards.

Micco Runes.

I skimmed books for about two hours, not learning much more than the basics and a few interesting details. Around midnight, I was sitting in one of the aisles, books spread out around me. I was scanning the short Micco section of a book on rune history. I set it down with a sigh. This wasn’t enough. I needed in depth, specific information on how Micco runes worked.

I carefully placed the books back on the shelf. There was one more place to look. The archive room. I pinned the light card to my shirt and walked up to the second floor of the library. At the far back corner of the second floor, I reached a locked door. The archive room was surrounded by glass walls, so anyone viewing fragile material would be easily visible. Usually, during daylight hours, one could go in, ask for a specific book, and the archive staff would go fetch it for you because these books were either expensive, old or rare. Or all three. If I wanted a primary source on how Micco runes worked, this was the best place to find it.

I jiggled the door handle again, as if suddenly it would be unlocked. Sighing, I considered my options. I didn’t know how to pick a lock. If I wanted to get in, there were two options. I could wait until morning and ask for the books I needed. The only problem was that when people wanted to view this specialized material, the archive staff asked for your library card as identification. I had one, (Luckily it had just sat in my bag forgotten when I'd left my apartment.) but there was a chance they would see that it was no longer valid. On the other hand, in my searching, I had found a rune that broke things. It was a strange one, not very useful in many settings because it broke indiscriminately and wasn’t very powerful. However, to break the lock in the door, it would be perfect for me. The problem was, if I broke the door handle, security would be called in. I might get kicked out of the library if they found out it was me.

Or worse. There was always that.

I studied the door hard and finally decided. I’d done enough illegal things in the last two and a half months. I would wait. That decided, I went back to my chair next to the stain glass window and slept. There. Now that I’ve caught up, I’m going to the archive room to see what will happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tap here! Oh boy! I'm just gonna live through Holly a bit and imagine living in a library for a while. ^\\\^ Dreams really do come true! (And possibly running away from writing hard chapters. Hehe)


	49. October 18, Tuesday

I was able to find the books I needed. After having the best night sleep in two weeks, I woke up to the library already a buzz around me. Keeping in mind that politeness makes people more willing to work with you, I made my way back to the archive.

There was a little reception desk inside the room, and for a moment I wondered why I recognized the girl sitting behind it until it hit me. That was Shelly.

I stood in the doorway awkwardly for a moment until she looked up. Her mouth turned into an o, and her brows came down. Well, we had argued when I’d left. There was also the fact that she _knew_ I wasn’t a student anymore.

I cleared my throat and shuffled forward.

“Hi, Shelly,” I said softly.

Little lines appeared at the edges of her eyebrows. “Hello, Holly,” she murmured back.

This was ridiculous.

“I want to look at some books. It’s really really important. Could I...please?”

Shelly blinked, staring at me. She tilted her head to the side, lips pressed together. “Is that really all you have to say after quitting your job, purposely making yourself homeless, and then vanishing?” The anger in her voice started to grow. “I was worried. People came looking for you afterwards, and I had no idea what to say. When the police showed up asking about you, I was worried they were coming to tell me that you were _dead._ When some newsie showed up, I had no idea what to think. You’ve acted stranger and stranger the longer this goes on. And you’re not willing to share why.” Her eyes hardened. “So tell me exactly what’s going on, Holly--or there’s no way I’m helping you.”

That stunned me. “Uh, ah, sorry Shelly. I didn’t mean to be a burd--”

“Don’t start with that!”

I nearly took a leap back when Shelly suddenly stood.

“It’s never been about you being a burden, Holly.” Shelly put both hands down, leaning over her desk. “I’m worried about you. You won’t tell me what’s going on. I wouldn’t care as much if I at least knew there was someone backing you up. But I know for a fact that since you stopped visiting your mother, I have been the closest thing you have to a friend!”

That sounded pretty pathetic, even in my ears. I looked at the ground, feeling confused, not even sure where to start with this situation. She was mad because I didn’t have friends? It’s not like I’d ever complained.

Shelly took in deep breaths, trying to recompose herself.

“Um, I know you really want to be there for me,” I said quietly. “And I’ve always appreciated that. You _have_ always been there for me. Which is why I didn’t want to talk to you...about this.”

Shelly’s expression remained unmoved. I searched my mind. I still didn’t want to tell her, get her involved, but she needed something. What? “I think I’ve changed because I’m involved with something that I think matters. It’s because I want to help other people.”

Shelly raised her brow. “About runes?” she said skeptically.

I shook my head. “The newspaper that came out yesterday. I’ve been looking into information on Ink Illness for the last two months. I think I can help.”

“You’re tied up in that Ink Illness business?” Now Shelly just looked confused.

I quirked my mouth. “Not exactly. But I’ve been dancing around something involving it for a while now. That’s why I left. I feel like this could backfire on me at any moment, and I didn’t want to get you involved.”

“So you went flying off the handle by yourself? Ever thought that if it could backfire so badly that _homelessness_ is a better option, it might not be worth it?” Shelly frowned.

Before I could even think, the words were out of my mouth. “I know that it was worth it.” There was no doubt in my mind. “I know it without a shadow of a doubt.” If Oddswell had died and I hadn’t done anything about what I’d overheard, I couldn’t live with myself. And after that, I couldn’t have lived with myself if I hadn’t continued to try and do what I could. I chose that. And I refused to change that about myself. “I believe what I’m doing is right.” I met her eyes. “And I will always try and do what was right, no matter how painful, awkward or difficult it becomes.” (Even though, some days that felt vague.)

Shelly didn’t reply, but just looked at her desk. “I just wish you wouldn’t try and do everything by yourself.” She sighed. “Fine. I’ll let you look at some archive books.” She looked up with a hard expression. “Which ones do you need?”

I listed the books I’d found on the catalog card, clutching my hands in front of me awkwardly. Shelly got the books with a resignation that I’d never seen in her before. I sat down at a table at the far end of the archive room, a stack of about five books in front of me. I pulled one in front of me, but stopped. _You’re tied up in that Ink Illness business?_ I couldn’t help but think of all the people I’d met in the past week. Granny. Avery...Steven. Tiptail. His brother. Bendy. Boris. _Ever thought that if it could backfire so badly that_ **_homelessness_ ** _is a better option, it might not be worth it?_ It was a funny thought. I hadn’t ever considered it before Shelly mentioned it. I tapped my finger on the desk lightly.

Worth it?

 _I wish you wouldn’t try and do everything by yourself._ I rolled my fingers together. I wasn’t. The way I saw it, I was hardly doing anything. They were doing so much more. They were out there, framed for all sorts of things and chased by the most frightening of characters because they were actively trying to help cure this illness. It sounded like they’d been doing this for a while.

I considered Bendy. He was one of those people that liked to pretend nothing was ever bothering them. After his initial shock, he’d acted as smooth as butter. I suspected that in truth there was a lot more worry hidden beneath that facade. After all (my stomach dropped), he had Ink Illness.

I pressed fingers against my forehead. The cool from my hands helped the pressure starting to build in my head. I didn’t know what to think about that. I feel like it made the coward in me rise within again. I wanted to help, but...a deep set fear stirred within me. What if he died? I had already lived through watching someone die, and I didn’t think I could handle it again. I had worked through my father’s passing. I could focus on a bright future and be happy most days...I shook my head. Dumb Dora. I shoved the thoughts and emotions deep down. Stop thinking about yourself. I couldn’t focus on what could go wrong, I needed to remember all that had gone right, all that could go right. It’s what dad would have said.    

I reflected on the people I had met again.

Then, there was that cute little wolf. Thinking about him left in me a deep seated sense of worry. He seemed like such a kind soul. It seemed unfair that someone like him was involved in something this troubling. However, I was also grateful. The presence of someone like him would lift people’s spirits. Who knew how much good that little wolf could do?

There was also Tiptail and his brother. I breathed in. Well. I would admit it. I liked his style. He was tough. I admired his dedication. He’d lost his job too. He honestly seemed to be handling it better than I had. I chuckled.

Then, I sighed. There was so much at stake here. If I could just help in this one small way...I stared at the book in front of me. I could do this.

Flipping it open, I started to study again.

I spent hours in the library that morning, trying to find out as much as I could about the Micco runes. I came away with a little bit of reassurance. In scattered bits throughout all the books, I’d been able to pick up bit of an understanding of how Micco runes worked. The runes themselves were sort of like a language. The problem was understanding the context--the culture of how it all flowed together. With that in mind, I had a couple runes I wanted to try.

Around two o’clock, I decided I felt like I needed to try the first experiment. The runes I was testing are usually used to find things, so as I prepared my test, I thought about what it is I might want to find. I thought about finding the machine items. I liked that idea, but I had a feeling there was more protecting them than I could guess, so I decided against it. What else might be useful to find?

I thought, thought and thought about this. As I stared at the map I’d bought, it hit me. Wouldn’t it be useful to know more about the boys’ map? And who could tell us more about the map? The angel that had given it to us. Maybe the angel might know more about this illness. If I could find him or her, they might at least be able to tell me how this map was connected to Ink Illness.

According to my knowledge of angel culture, once an angel got involved in something, he or she had a vested interest in it. It became personal. So, there was a chance that the angel was nearby. After a moment I settled on it. That’s what I would be trying to pinpoint.   

I left the campus and walked until I reached my park, far into the city. The best way to handle this would to find an isolated place and see how it went. Although, if a messed up rune caused something to catch on fire...I would burn.

I shrugged. Ah. Well. The potential problems that came along with handling runes.

Moving as deep into the park as I could, I cleared a little area of grass and moss, digging a hole. I found some rocks and created a circle. Well, at least if it was a small fire, now it would be contained. I sat down on a large rock. I wanted to try the rune for “year” first.

I pulled out a little city map I had purchased on the way to the park. Opening it, I wrote the runes out at the bottom and set it down in the middle of the circle. Okay. Location. I took my pencil and circled an area in the park. I guess I would find out what could happen now...I glanced at the unknown rune at the end. This could be bad.

I breathed in and activated the working.

The runes started to glow. The map flashed. I stumbled back, letting go of it. When I opened my eyes again, I gasped. There was now a tree standing in the middle of my rock circle. That, however, was not what terrified me.

The tree was warped. It looped in on itself, like a giant had tied a knot in it. The topmost branches were pointed downwards, almost like it was leaning over in pain.

I glanced at the map I’d used, which was now on the ground next to it. I swallowed. I guess I would have to build another testing spot.

For the rest of the day, it continued on like this. Strange things happened. Once, while I was still marking the map, my pencil disappeared from my hand and reappeared a few feet away, embedded in a tree and on fire. I had to race over and stamp it out with my foot, barely smothering it in time.

I did this until it started to get dark. Dead tired, I decided that I was going to go back to Tiptail’s apartment after trying one more combination.

What happened next scared me…

I finished writing the runes and immediately blacked out. When I woke up, I was next to my first attempt, the warped tree. I freaked out for a moment until I noticed a few things. Most of my other attempts had disappeared. I stood there, confused for a few minutes. Then I realized something else. The sun was high above my head. I tracked down the nearest person I could find in the park and asked them for the time and date.

It was still October 18th...but it was now only five o’clock…

I’ll admit it. After this particular experience, I decided that I should conclude my tests for the day...I packed all my things back into my bag and started to walk my way toward Tiptail’s apartment. After another hour or so, I arrived.

The sun was getting lower in the sky when I got there. I knocked lightly.

The door opened to a beautiful woman with dark lipstick, large eyes, and wavy dark hair that framed her face. Huh? I instantly was on guard for two reasons. 1: Who was this lady and why was she here? 2: I’ll be honest, beautiful people intimidate me just a little bit. And 3: I had just time traveled somehow, so I was just paranoid in general. “Ben-Oh, I’m sorry I was expecting someone else.” The woman nodded and turned around. “Mr. Tiptail, you have a guest.”

“Oh?” Xedo’s voice sounded from inside. “Who?”

The woman turned back. She smiled a gleaming smile at me. “I assume you’re here to talk to Mr. Tiptail.”

I smiled a little. “Yes. I’m Holly May.”

“Alice. It’s a pleasure.”

I nodded back. “Nice to meet you.”

She then called over her shoulder. “Holly May?”

“Oh yes! Invite her in!” Xedo called back in a pleased tone. Alice opened the door and gestured for me to enter with that bright smile.

I walked inside, hands firmly holding my bag. “Hello, Mr. Tiptail.”

“Holly, it’s good to see you again. How are you?” Xedo stood and shook my hand. “Would you like anything to drink?”

My stomach gurgled angrily at me. _Are you really going to say no to free food again?_ “Ah, yes. That would be nice. How have things been here since yesterday?”

“Not much different. Our city mayor is really proving himself to be a piece of work.” Xedo smiled. “I almost have my second article ready to be published. I just need an opening to a publisher again,” Xedo said as he walked into the kitchen.

“Oh my!” Alice rushed across the room and tossed a glass of water on a plant. Smoke puffed out. I blinked. Had that plant just been on fire? Why had it been on fire? Was I still under the effect of those runes? “Wiston! That’s twice since I’ve been here.” Alice shook a finger at the table. “Come out. I know you’re down there.”

Wiston’s head popped out from under the table, his ears flat to his skull. “Aww, why’d ya have to put it out.” Ah, the brother? Apparently he had a problem with lighting things on fire. Good to know we had something in common. At least until I figured out those runes.

“Because I don’t want your brother’s apartment to go up in smoke!” Alice gestured to the still smoking plant. She raised a waiting hand to the younger fox. “Now, surrender the matches.”

“I used my last one,” Wiston said.

“Liar. Hand them over.” Alice called him out. He frowned. She smirked. “Liar-liar pants on fire.”

“I think that actually what he wants,” I commented offhandedly.

They didn’t seem to hear. Wiston’s eyes widened. “Don’t.”

“You are so full of hot air,” Alice said.

“Stop!” Wiston put his hands on his ears.

Was she punning? What…? “Are my smoke signals too weak? Do I need to shine some light on the situation.” She was definitely punning. “You can be a real fire cracker, ya know. I don’t mind dragging you over the coals though. You aren’t too hot for me to handle.” All tension leaked out of me, and I couldn’t help the upward twitch of my lips.

“AGH! You’re the worst!” This girl was the best.

“Did I spark your annoyance?” Alice was grinning.

“She won’t stop until you hand them over!” Xedo called from the kitchen.

“Fine!” Wiston reached into his sleeve and tossed a box of matches at Alice.

She caught them easily. “And that is set and match.” This was like watching a sports show on T.V. But better.

“AH!” Wiston ran to his room in exasperation.

“He’s holding another one under his foot,” I commented.

Alice’s eyes widened, and she raced after him. “Don’t be so hot-footed! Where’s the fire? Come back and give me that match!”

I tried. I really did. But I couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped me as I watched this girl race after the little pyromaniac. Xedo came back into the room. My eyes lasered in on his tray. Sandwiches. And four cups of tea. “You’ll have to forgive them. It’s almost a daily occurance. Alice found her word play was enough to annoy the...Well, you saw for yourself.” He set the food down on the coffee table and gestured for me to sit.

I took a sip of one of the cups, casually grabbing a sandwich. “Well, we are all in a race for time.” I carefully kept my face straight so he wouldn’t know if I had meant to pun.  

Xedo raised a brow. The smirk he covered with his tea said he knew better. “So, my brother’s antics aside, how is your research coming? Were you able to go to the library?”

I took a deep breath. “Yes, I was able to get some research done. I’ve got some potential leads, but doing the tests goes slowly, so I really haven’t figured out anything useful yet.” I took another sip. “But I have plenty of things to try.” I wanted to grab another one. I eyed it. How long should I wait to take another without being rude?

The fox hummed thoughtfully. “Sadly, I can’t be much help to you. I’ve heard a few rumors about runes though.” He looked over his glasses at me. It was a piercing gaze. “Your tests will be safe, won’t they? I know when Bendy and Boris asked for help, they may not have understood the entire task they would be putting on you.”  

I smiled cheerfully. “Don’t worry. All my tests are certifiably safe. Don’t let hearsay about runes worry you.” Liar-liar pants on fire. Any more and I’d make a pyre. It was normal for people to worry when it came to runes, but they all had the potential to be dangerous if you didn’t know how to use them. If I’d let that stop me in the past, I would still be on my mother’s farm in the middle of nowhere.  

Again, Xedo hummed. I couldn’t tell if he believed me. “Good. Then, do be careful. I don’t want to imagine how those two would handle any bad news. They have enough on their plates.”

I shrugged. I wanted another sandwich. If anything happened to me because of _these_ runes, there probably wouldn’t be enough of me left to tell bad news about. Poof. I’d just be gone. “Where are the boys anyways?”

Xedo smiled and took one of the sandwiches. Ah. It wouldn’t be as weird if I took another one after he had taken one. I carefully reached out for a sandwich and tried not to stuff it in my mouth. “Bendy took Boris to the circus that came into town. Boris is apparently a fan of Mickey Mouse. I thought it was risky, but they needed something to lift their spirits so...” Xedo shrugged. “I couldn’t bring myself to object.”

I nodded through a mouthful of cheese and lunchmeat. Swallowed. “After what they’ve been through, it sounded like they could both use a break.”

Alice came in and sat in one of the chairs with a sigh. “That brother of yours is gonna be the death of us all.”

Xedo chuckled. “He is a handful.” Alice smirked. She put the matches on the table and grabbed a cup of tea. “Thank you for your help.” Alice waved off the praise.

“When do you think they’ll be home?” Alice asked.

“It should be soon. The sun is setting, after all.” Xedo looked out the window.

I nodded. Well, I’d updated Xedo. If it was getting dark, maybe I should be getting back to my tree--My eyes lit on a stack on books in the back corner. Were those books on illnesses? Did that say Wilson Wiseton? Didn’t that other one say Felix the cat? Ooooooh!

“So, what are those?” I motioned to the stack, looking at Xedo. The fox looked over to the stack and chuckled.

“I was researching Wilson before the boys made such a splash. I ended up getting them mixed with some other light reading,” Xedo said. “You’re welcome to take a look. Borrow anything you’d like. I haven’t had much time to read lately.”

My eyes practically became the size of saucers. “Oh...really? I guess I’ll take a look then.” I got up and knelt next to the books. Carefully, I sorted through them. Oh! This was the same Felix book I had gotten from the bookstore. I never had gotten a chance to read it...Who knows what had happened to the rest of my stuff when I’d left it at my (former) apartment.

I picked up a book with a red cover. And this one! This one was Professor Wiseton’s account on going to the ancient ruins of the Pench Jungle in India. I had also read bits and pieces of this as a student, but hadn’t had time to finish.   

There were two more blue ones. These were on different types of illnesses. I’d guess it was research on Ink Illness. Carefully, I picked up the four. I liked the others as well, but I really wanted to look at each of these. A cheerful feeling running through me, I sat back down and started to look at the one on top. It was the red one written by Wilson.

A knock came to the door. I glanced up from my open book.  

“Finally,” Alice said softly and went to get it.

I tilted my head. Well, if they were here, I guess I could ask them a couple more questio--I blinked as I heard a familiar female voice.

“Hello, is Xedo Tiptail here?” That was...one of those female detectives I’d talked to. Oh no.

Xedo’s ears perked. His light smile disappeared. He set down his tea cup and stood. “Yes, I am here.” He headed to the door. “What can I do for you, detectives?” I stood up, books still stacked in my hands. Bendy and Boris were still out there. Maybe I should go out, so if they showed up I could tell them not to go in.

“We’re here to ask about the newspaper article that appeared the other day. It seems the editor in chief thinks you had something to do with it. May we come in and talk?” She sounded apologetic.

I lingered at the edge of the hallway. As soon as the detectives walked past, I would leave.  Alice stepped back and glanced to me. She seemed a bit confused. “I’m not sure if now is the best time,” Xedo responded. “You see, I have guests.”

“We’ll try not to be long.”

Xedo sighed and stepped aside. A raccoon and a tall crow stepped into the hall. “No need to pack up and run. We’ll only be a moment.” The raccoon looked at Alice and me.

I smiled. “That’s okay. I was planning on heading out right now, anyways. It’s getting dark and I don’t really want to walk without any light.”

“Allow me to call you a cab, Miss May,” Xedo said. I glanced at Xedo. No. I didn’t have money for a cab! And I was trying to leave to warn those boy, for Yen Sid’s sake!

I spoke in a low voice. “Actually--”

“You can do that after we’re gone,” the crow said gently. “We should only take ten minutes...unless you can help with our investigation.” Stars, why was my voice so quiet?

“Investigation?” Xedo asked with a flick of his ear.

“Yes. You see, the editor-in-chief that sent us your way claimed you had an article oddly similar to the one that got published by mistake.” The raccoon pulled out a pen and pad. I immediately tensed. Robert Sykes!

“I assure you I had left that place of employment before the incident. If it was mine, it was a mistake on their part. Maybe I left a copy of the article behind, and someone picked it up by accident,” Xedo said.

The crow nodded. “Yes, that would make sense.” Maybe, I could just sneak out. I started to shuffle towards the door when I realized I still had a stack of books in my hands. Oh. I’d forgotten. I couldn’t take these with me. I didn’t have any place to put them. I would have to put them back on that stack.

“We were wondering if you could tell us what you know about Wilson Wiseton and the B Brothers,” the raccoon said. Xedo narrowed his eyes at the two women.

I shuffled back to the living room and started to set the books down. “That will take a bit more time than ten minutes.” He walked into the living room with the cops and Alice following. She looked between the women and the journalist curiously.

“Is that so? We’ve been having a difficult time collecting information. We know you wrote the article on the murder of Wilson’s team a little over a year ago. You made some interesting statements about the allegations of him auctioning off the relics they had found,” the raccoon said. I blinked, stopping from putting down the books. Wilson?

“It didn’t match with his character,” Xedo stated.

“Even when they found broken pieces the relics at a known criminal’s home a couple months later?” the crow asked. That was an obvious plant!

“Again, no. He fled quickly after the death of his colleagues. Several relics were still there in the crime scene photos. They disappeared after he left,” Xedo said. I nodded. Right.

“Wilson also handled much more pricey relics and never tried anything like that.” I couldn’t help but interrupt. “It wouldn’t make sense for him to start now.”  

All eyes turned on me. Oops. Horsefeathers. Well, it’s not like I could unsay my words, so I might as well continue.

“P-Professor Wiseton would never do that.” I walked over to the couches. “If you’ve really researched him, you’d know it makes no sense. It wasn’t at the best time, and he was being heavily funded. He didn’t need the money. And he didn’t even have to means to kill entire group of people himself. The mode of operations used to murder his research team was reckless, violent. Wilson Wiseton was always careful, methodical. If he were to do something like that, it wouldn’t be messy. Then, there’s the fact that everyone other than his team who were listed as part of that dig was mysteriously absent the day the others were murdered.”

The crow nodded. “You are very aware of the facts of the case. What’s your name? Did you know the professor?”

“I’m just a fan of his. I’ve never met him.” I frowned.

The raccoon hummed. “And what do you think of the individuals that died when they met Mr. Wiseton while he was fleeing arrest?” the raccoon asked. Obviously they were murdered because he told them something the mob didn’t want getting out. But could I say that? I had told them about what was going on before, but that was anonymous. There could be a lot of bad consequences if I told them in person.

“Ink Illness,” Xedo answered easily enough. “Or accidents like the one that befell him or that fire.”

“So, you knew about that too.” The raccoon didn’t make it sound like a question.

“I like to be thorough with my research.” Xedo took a drink of his tea. He seemed to be relaxing. “Please detectives, help yourselves.”

The crow reached for the last cup of tea. The raccoon took a sandwich. “Thank you.” Sandwich...

“Do you think the B Brothers were involved in Wilson’s death?” the crow asked.

“If you mean ‘do I think they killed him’, the answer is no. Do I think they got tangled up in the mess Wilson was running from? Then yes,” Xedo said.

“And what mess is that?” the raccoon asked.

“The one where someone is trying to hide Ink Illness, silence Dr. Oddswell, and murdered Wilson’s team the year before,” Xedo said. They were silent for a moment. The cops shared a long look.

“Would you have any idea who that might be?” the crow asked.

The mob?

“No, sadly,” Xedo admitted. I frowned. The Cup assassins? Whatever that meant. I wanted to open my mouth! But...on the other hand, Cup assassins? If I said that out loud I doubted anyone would take me seriously. What were they supposed to do? Smash themselves on people?  

“That’s too bad,” the raccoon said. She finished the sandwich and sighed.

This was good. Maybe they would leave now. I sat down, the book on my lap. “Well, it doesn’t look like we can be much more help.”

“No, thank you for your time,” the crow said with a small nod. I tilted my head. If they went back to their headquarters now, maybe I could go to a payphone and call them.

“And just to be completely clear, you have no clue how that article got posted?” the raccoon asked.

“None whatsoever,” Xedo smiled pleasantly.

“Alright, we’ll be--”

The door flew open and the last people I wanted to see were there. Bendy and Boris froze in the hall when they made eye contact with the detectives. Oh Horsefeathers.

It was sort of terrifying to watch as the confusion in the raccoon’s eyes changed into a sharp toothed smile. “Well, well, well. Look who showed up to the party.”

The bird took another sip of her tea. “Hello Bendy, Boris. Nice to see you again.” Wait. She did not look surprised at all. Had they been stalling for this too?

Bendy and Boris were frozen in the doorway. Heavens, they needed to get better at this running away thing. They’d frozen up the same way when I’d barged into the apartment!

“I suggest you come quietly. You don’t want to get everyone here in more trouble than they already are, do you?” I froze. Oh yeah. This meant we’re all in a lot of hot water as well.

Bendy hesitated, his brother frozen next to him. Yen Sid, Bendy, you are a demon! Just run! “What are you doing here?” The detectives were now on their feet, and I knew that there would be action the moment either group moved.

The bird woman pulled out a pair of handcuffs. “You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and may be used against you.” Wasn’t it _will_ be used against you?

“Isn’t it ‘will’ be used against you?’” Boris scooted back, speaking nervously.

“This is a special situation. Please cooperate, and we will explain.” Ringtail also pulled out a pair of handcuffs. The boys eyed the detectives nervously. This was starting to feel like something from the old west. The cowboys (the detectives) were trying to catch the horses (the boys). I almost expected a lasso to suddenly come out. This was absolutely awful! These two were some of the only clean cops I knew about. Yet they were here, trying to arrest the only chance we had at curing Ink Illness!  

“Must you put them in handcuffs?” Xedo interrupted. Yes. We needed to try and stop this.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Tiptail. There are some things we can’t overlook.” She gave Xedo a look. “But I believe if you cooperate with us, we will have enough evidence to clear the boys and the doctor.”

“Woah.” Bendy made a stopping motion. “Wait a minute, what’s going on here?”

“The detectives came to me for more information on their case,” Xedo explained. “It seems more is going on than we had originally thought.” I suspected a lot more than any of us realized.

Ringtail sighed. “It’s all became a big mess, and you boys are the scapegoats.” I blinked. Wait. What?

“What!” Bendy growled. They knew that Bendy and Boris were scapegoats?

“We aren’t going to let that happen,” Featherworth said. Then why were they trying to arrest the boys?

“Wait, I’m confused. What’s going on?” Boris asked, nervous.

“We have some dirty politicians and some dirty cops. That’s what,” Ringtail growled, baring her teeth. That looked...scary. Wait! Did that mean they knew about the mayor?

“They’ve been making our case impossible: denying us access to information and resources, trying to curb our personal opinions, not to mention the attempts on Oddswell--”

“Someone has been trying to kill Dr. Oddswell!” Xedo exclaimed. I nearly had a heart attack, even though I knew about it. Wilson’s book slipped through my fingers and thudded awkwardly on the ground. My eyes met with Xedo’s in concern. I actually felt a bit of relief. At least I knew that nothing had happened to Oddswell yet.

Ringtail continued, rolling her eyes. “Actually, plural. Multiple people. We’ve been able to stop them at every turn, but it’s not good. The lizard is excited about it because he thinks it means he’s close to something the bad guys are trying to protect.” That almost brought a smile to my lips. Oddswell being happy about an assassination attempt on his life sounded...exactly like him. That lizard. Actually, I couldn’t really judge, because I might act similar if I were in his situation. I wanted to know what the mob was hiding.  

“Yeah, he’s a weird guy.” Featherworth shook her head, looking confused. Speaking of the mob...If Bendy and Boris were arrested they could be in real danger. I...should try and tell the detectives about the mob. I shouldn’t wait, as much as I’d rather stay anonymous.

“Do you have any idea who’s trying to kill him?” Do you know it’s the mob?

“Two were other prisoners, but one was an officer. The chief is very concerned.” I blinked. I’d heard about the first...and I knew about the officer. Which meant that somehow, despite following Fairfax for over a month, I had missed discussion of another attempt. Relief and disappointment flooded me at the same time. He was safe, but I also had managed to miss something important. I was just lucky these detectives were so good at their jobs.

“And you want to bring my brother and I into that?” Bendy cut into my thoughts. I could see as he tensed to run, grabbing his brother’s wrist. Yea--

The bird detective snatched a book from my hands and hurled it at the door, which slammed shut. I jumped. Alice screamed next to me. I resisted the urge to glare daggers at the bird. This wasn’t helping!

They were already across the room, though. Quick as a whip, they tripped each of the boys up, slamming them to the floor and putting cuffs on them.

“H-hey! Be gentle with them! They don’t deserve this!” Alice seemed to have found her voice. (Well, I hadn’t really yet, so…) She got up, heading towards the detectives with determination.

Xedo intercepted her. “Wait, Alice.”

She looked at him, looked at the detectives, looked back. “B-but! They aren’t guilty! We all know that! Everyone here knows these two haven’t killed anyone! Why aren’t we doing anything?”

Xedo looked tired. “It’s the justice system. We can’t interfere without getting arrested ourselves.” (Technically, we all should still be getting arrested…)

“This isn’t justice!” Alice looked offended. “This makes a sham of justice! It’s completely nonsensical, preposterous! I can’t just stand by while innocent--”

Bendy said something at this point, but the headache I’d had earlier was starting to come back now with a vengeance. They were innocent. If the cops took them, they would be in danger. I knew exactly which people would be going after them. I needed to tell them. Maybe they would let the boys go? I needed to tell them!

“He’s right, miss. If these boys are innocent, and we are sure they are, then they’ll get out in no time.” The raccoon was speaking. “It’s just getting the paperwork done and all.”

I snorted, trying to think around the headache. Well, that was ironic. They started to turn towards the door when I tapped the bird detective on the shoulder. “If you stick them in that jail, they’re going to be in serious danger. It’s not safe there.” Okay. My muscles tensed, my head pounded. I had said it.

The bird detective looked skeptical. “We’ll keep them safe, just like Oddswell. You can trust us.” Obviously, she had taken that as a worrying comment rather than one suggesting I knew something. Stars! Why did I have such a hard time being direct?

“Just the two of you? Against the mob? That’s comforting.” This, while still completely vague, got everyone’s attention.

Wiston, the little fire fox, spoke. “Who said anything about the mob?”

I could feel the weight on my nerves build. “How do I say this?” Bluntly, please. Just say it already, Holly! “The commissioner is the one sending the hit men. He’s taking bribes from the mob, although I don’t know why they would want Oddswell dead. Maybe they were hired to do it.” I shrugged helplessly. “I overheard the commissioner threatening Fairfax when their first attempt failed.” Oh yeah. Fairfax. “He’s in on it too. He’s the busboy between the mob and the commissioner.”

“Fairfax did what!?” Xedo erupted next to me, making me jump. “I knew he could be a crooked fellow, but this! This is outrageous! And the commissioner!” He...he seemed way more upset about his fellow Toon Town Times newsie being bad than anyone else…

“It seems things are working in a bigger system than we had originally feared.” The bird detective seemed calm enough about it. That was encouraging.

“It’s not only that. I saw Fairfax passing bribes to the mayor too.” Well, saw might be an overstatement, but I knew that it had started out in Fairfax’s apartment and ended up in the mayor’s office.

“What!” Xedo seemed even more offended. “Is there no just authority left?”

I folded my arms, trying not to snort in irony. “Well, I’ve been looking for the last month, but I’ve yet to find one.”

“Excuse you,” Ringtail snipped. I blinked. Oh, yeah. I had sort of forgotten about them. They could obviously only do so much, though. And right now they were _doing_ the wrong thing!!

I suddenly realized that the two detectives were looking at me. The bird spoke. “How do you know that?” Her usual calming demeanor was gone.

Oh. This is where I had to admit to being a stalker. Well, this was going to hurt. “I’ve...been following Jeremy Fairfax for the past few weeks. Pretty much ever since he wrote that article on me.”

“That was a month and a half ago.” I looked at Xedo. That was not helping! I cleared my throat, catching a judgemental look from Bendy.

I shrugged. No. I refused to be embarrassed about this. I was trying to do the right thing! I was trying to help someone for Yen Sid’s sake! “I didn’t have anything else to lose...And it was an honest accident when I overheard that they were trying to kill Oddswell. After that, I couldn’t very well just walk away and pretend I didn’t hear anything.” Anger surged in me. “And Fairfax is fishy. If anyone bothered to look into him, they’d realize that quickly.” Whatever they did, they needed to know more about this. “Also, I forgot to mention that I think that Fairfax’s connection to the mob is the Toon Times editor in chief, Robert Sykes. His brother, Bill Sykes, has been involved with shady things for a long time. I figured that out just by looking up his public company records. Some of his best competitors just up and disappeared, out of nowhere. I’ve also seen him meeting with people who are known mob affiliates.”

I blinked when Xedo sat down, his face falling into his hands. I felt sympathy for him. He seemed really passionate about journalism, and now he was finding out a bunch of people around him were corrupt. I honestly admired his personal strength in staying integritous.

“We know about the Sykes brothers! The commish is in with the Sykes brothers!?” I blinked as the raccoon threw her hands up in aggravation, her tail wagging angrily.

“And you’re arresting these boys instead!” Alice jumped in. I smiled. Yeah Alice! Point it out!

“There’s no proof,” the bird said. “We haven’t been able to pin anything on the Sykes brothers. The chief has been on them for years...but this news about the commissioner and mayor. This is a new concern. A very troubling one.”

My heart started to sink. It was the same problem I had run into. No. I had hoped they could do more than I could. “Like we should be surprised. I never liked that pompous egotistical--”

“Ringtail, please,” the raccoon’s partner interrupted.

“It’s like all the dirt disappears! It’s gotten ridiculous! Like magic!”

More anger surged. “What do you expect when the commissioner is their lapdog?” And not in any position to say no to the mob, I might add. Their relationships had _not_ looked stable.

“You’re right. If it’s him, then we have a lead.” The bird narrowed her eyes. “But something still doesn’t sit right with me. I’ve been suspicious that real magic has been involved lately.”

Real? Magic? What did magic have to do with this?

“You didn’t lose more evidence, did you Feathers?” Bendy asked.

I sort of got absorbed into my own mind at that moment. Magic? Involved with the missing evidence? The mob had magic on their side? But I hadn’t seen anyone who could use it. Fairfax hadn’t met any witches and most people didn’t use runes...Wait. Somehow Fairfax had gotten my journal despite my putting two different protection runes on it. They did have someone who could use spells. But who? They had obviously worked with Fairfax, but I had never seen anyone who looked like they knew how to use runes. Although, that wasn’t something you could just see in people, I supposed.

“I’m sorry. We can’t do anything else but take them.” I blinked at the bird finished speaking.

Wait! “What if I testify as a witness? I heard the commissioner plan murder!”

The bird paused. “We would still have to take them until the court date.” She looked sad. “I’m sorry.”

“Besides, we’ll need more than a single witness if we want to do anything against that guy.” The raccoon had a point.

“What if I found you more evidence?” There must be something, right?

“Do it without breaking the law, and you’re good!” The racoon gave me two thumbs up. I blinked in surprise. Really?

“Rachel, no!” The feathered one scolded her partner. She looked at me. “We appreciate your enthusiasm, but this is best left to us. This is dangerous work. Be ready to give your testimony and be patient.”

They started to lead the boys away, and Bendy turned back one last time. “Don’t worry. This will be easier than a giant snake.” Wait. What? “It’ll be a vacation!” So not having a giant snake around was like a vacation? I shook my head. Focus. “Just...make sure we can come back to work soon.” I thought about the little paper in my pocket. Well. I guess that was my cue. I needed to get back to work. The front door shut.

There was a breath of silence between those of us left. “Well...that escalated quickly,” Wiston said hesitantly.

Alice huffed and crossed her arms. She glared at the door the cops had disappeared through. “What kind of justice takes two innocent boys from such an important work?” She shook her head. “I can’t believe this.” One where no one could be certain of anyone. My fingers curled inward. This was bad.

“I know my dear,” Xedo said with a resigned tone. He seemed to have age years in the span of the short arrest. “What is the world coming to? It’s hard to say, but that doesn’t mean we give up!” He clapped his hand on his knee. “I know those detectives well. They are honest in their work, and they know the boys are innocent. They will go through hell and high water to prove it!”

I stood up. “They’re also the only ones the mob mentioned were clean, so they’re probably the only ones we can trust.” I grimaced. “Despite this.” I turned and finally set the books I’d been looking at down. I winced as I realized the red Wiston book was now crumpled.  

Alice snorted. “Then, they are the first good souls I’ve met that are so--” she cut herself off with another huff and marched to the window.

I nodded at Xedo. “I’ll be leaving now. I have to do more tests.” I glanced at Alice. I still didn’t know who she was. Just that she told awesome puns. I nodded at her. “It was good to meet you. I admired the way you stood up to the officers.”

Alice blinked out of her glare to look over at me. “Oh! No, I didn’t do anything.” She let out a heavy sigh. “They still got taken away.” Her frown twitched. “But thank you for your kind words.”

“Holly,” Xedo cut in. “Can I ask how you knew all that?”

I paused at the door. “Like I said, I followed Fairfax for a long time. And he met with _a lot_ of people.”

“But mob members...You put yourself in a lot of risk. Is that why you--” he cut himself off. He seemed to think better of it and got up. “Well, the least I can do is get you that taxi...unless you would rather some other option?”

I gave him a long stare. Is that why I what? That bugged me. I shook my head. “No, a taxi is fine. I need to do more tests, and it’s best if I’m in an isolated area.”

Xedo nodded in understanding before going to his phone to call. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Alice fidget. “Oh no!” Alice suddenly gasped. “What about the map!”

My mouth dropped. “What? It’s wasn’t with them, was it?”

Xedo’s eyes widened. He glanced at the two backpacks stashed in the corner. “To my knowledge, they had it stolen in New Orleans. Ever since they got it back, Boris has kept it in his pocket. They don’t go anywhere without it.”

Alice dropped her head into her hands. “It’s with them. Will they be able to keep it? Those...people aren’t going to take it, would they?”

I felt the blood run from my face. “No. All items are confiscated once you’re arrested.”

“Stars, this is a mess,” Wiston said. “We could burn down the building. It’s fireproof right? Just snag it from the site,” Or burn it to a crisp, “while the firefighters are distracted.”

“Don’t even start with that.” Xedo shook a finger at Wiston. “The detectives already know that items have disappeared. I’m sure that if the boys indicate anything is important, they will be able to handle it. Still, I will call and make sure they protect that map.”

I frowned. “Either way, I really do need to leave. With these events, it’s just made figuring out theses runes even more important.”

“Right. Your cab should be there when you exit the building.” Xedo approached me and pressed some bills in my hand. “For all the help you’ve been.” He smiled.

I twitched. Pride and embarrassment warred with logic. I almost told him that I couldn’t take the money when I had a thought. At least I wouldn’t have to waste any more time going to the soup kitchen if I did took it. I could do tests the entire day (Although I’m not sure that’s a good thing.). “Ah. Thank you,” I finally managed. As I got up I nodded (and snatched up one last sandwich).

“We need to watch out for each other, especially now,” Xedo said. “I’m sure the news of those boys’ arrest will cause a big stir in the morning. The city will be a circus for a while. Everyone needs to be careful.” He looked around the room to everyone there. “It’s a setback, but the mission hasn’t changed.”

Alice and Wiston agreed.

“Be safe, Holly!” Wiston waved.

I waved back. “All of you keep safe too.”

“It was a pleasure to meet you.” Alice nodded gracefully. I nodded back. “You too.”

“I hope to hear from you soon,” Xedo told me.

I opened the door. “I’ll contact you in the next two days, or when I finally find a solution.”

I shut the door behind me and got into the cab. Despite what had just happened, they all gave this strange home like feeling. I’d never had so many people tell me goodbye as I walked out the door. I pulled out my paper again. It would be around seven when I got back to the park. So, that meant I could do at least two more hours of tests. Hopefully nothing too strange would happen. Although...if the time warp thing happened again, that would be useful because I could stop the arrest. However, I didn’t want to push my luck. The workings were far too unstable at this point.

I got back to the park, eating my sandwich as I went. I continued to do tests throughout the evening. I have to admit, doing these tests in the dark was not the brightest idea I’ve had. Once the map spontaneously combusted. (I had to go buy another one.) Another time, a rat appeared out of nowhere. (I’m not entirely sure, but I think it might have been purple? Which meant it was magical? I don’t know.)

It hit ten o’clock, and I didn’t bother to go back to my tree. I am now going to sleep here.


	50. October 19, Wednesday

I woke up with a backache. I can still sort of feel it. I guess that’s the difference between sleeping on pine needles and straight dirt.

Strange things happened today...Cold shivers. Cold shivers run down my spine.

Day 2 Test 1: I created another circle of rocks. I added the runes I wanted to test to the map I’d bought. I activated the runes. The trees around me started to shrink and buildings grew out of the ground. I nearly got hit in the face as a woman in a red dress ran by. For a moment I got a glimpse of a movie theater advertising a showing of, “Willie the giant” before everything crumbled around me, and I found myself lying on the ground in the middle of the park again.

Day 2 Test 2: After my first attempt...I had to take a break. But! After reclaiming my nerves from up a tree half way across the park, I started on my second attempt. I added the new rune to the map. Stepped carefully back and activated it. WHOOSH. The map expanded upward, growing outward like a bubble. I stared in disbelief until it stopped forming. The map...had just made itself three dimensional. I studied the buildings and hills of the city. Interesting. I’d never had a real overhead view of it before. After another minute I refocused. Needless to say, I had to go and buy another map. Good thing Xedo gave me that cash after all.

Day 2 Test 3: After going to buy _another_ map, I started up again. You know the drill. Write. Step back. Activate. The trees around me started to reach out towards the map. I leapt back, watching in fascination/horror. Gradually, the branches meshed together to create an entryway of a sort in a circle shape. Then...the inside started to glow. I saw an ocean in the distance. Unfortunately for my own curiosity and probably yours as well, I did not step through the glowey portal. Even I have more self preservation than to do that.

Day 2 Test 4: I smashed the glowey portal and retrieved the map (Which was shredded by the way.). I went to go get another map. Write. Step back. Activate. There was a fluttering sound and as I looked up I saw _every single_ pine needle within ten feet of me get plucked from its tree by an invisible force. They gathered together like a bunch of mad bees and flew at me. Since running for my life has become a common occurrence as of late--I ran! Twenty feet away, I managed to trip myself up and ended up flat on my face. It was all for the best though, because when all the needles hit me, I was fine (Although, it stung like fire!).

Day 2 Test 5: I dug myself out of the mound of pine needles and wadded back to my circle of rocks. After a bit of searching, I managed to find it again. Write. Step back (At this point, I also hid behind a mound of rocks I built.). Activate. Three enormous trees burst out of the dirt on all sides of me. A nest of twigs, feathers and other assorted materials blinked into existence above my head. Then, I saw the egg. It was sitting in the center of the nest, supported by the nest and three trees. It was about as big than I was. Just as the ramifications of having whatever _it_ was running around hit me, there was a violent screech that caused me to cover my ears and curl into the fetal position (Potentially the fatal position. I should have known better than to do that.). However, when I opened my eyes, it was all gone. I glared at the map.

Day 2 Test 6: I don’t want to talk about this one...Long story short. Write. Hide. Activate. A light streaked down from the sky. Another one streaked in from the side, and they slammed together. When I could see again, there was a deer hawk sitting on top of my map. A. Literal. Deer. Hawk. Head of a deer. Body of a hawk. That could have been me...I’d rather have the star-fallen thing burst into flames. At least that makes sense and doesn’t nauseate me on sight!!!

Day 2 Test 7: Write. Hide. Activate. I stared at the map with wide eyes. A minute passed. Two. Wait. Nothing had happened. Carefully, I tiptoed towards it. Picked it up. Poof. It disintegrated in my face.

Day 2 Test 8: Tree giant chased me. Nearly caught me. Solidified back into a tree right before I reached the edge of the park. Enough with the strange animals!

Day 2 Test 9: I turned white dandelions into floating adorable hedgehog dandelions. Three of them ran away. I kept the fourth. Or it kept me. I’m not sure. It is now sleeping in my pocket. I have decided to name him Snowball. He is white and literally the shape of a ball of snow. Do _not_ judge me.

Day 2 Test 10: It started to rain. Just above the map. RIP fourth map. When I left to get another one, it was still raining. (The cashier at the local shop is now looking at me strangely.) I bought four copies this time.  

Day 2 Test 11: A cloud formed above the map. For a moment I was worried that it was going to rain again. No. The cloud started to rise, and just like there was an invisible string attached, the map rose with it. I almost sat there and watched it float out of my reach before I reacted. I barely managed to grab it. That’s when I started to float too. I let go. Thud. Well, if I ever want to fly…

Day 2 Test 12: Giant meatballs fell from the sky. Enough said. I got lunch. (Which is fortunate because I spent all the money Xedo gave me on maps.)  

Day 2 Test 13: This time when I activated the runes, the ground beneath me started to rumble. There was a low angry groaning, which sent spikes of fear right through my heart. A _whale_ rose from the soil where the map had been. It slammed its giant tail on the ground, making the dirt beneath me shake. In the distance I heard sirens. This concluded my doing tests in the park.

Day 2 Test 14: I went to an abandoned stretch of beach a mile from the docks. There’s a lot of jellyfish in this area, so most people don’t swim. Sitting down on a rock, I wrote out my next attempt. Activated it. Suddenly, I felt a tug on my chest. I watched in horror as a yellow light was pulled from my chest slowly, forming fluttering butterflies. With each new one, I felt a little more energy drain from my body. About a hundred of them drifted around me before I passed out.

I tried a variety of other things. Snowball grew a couple sizes during one attempt. The deer hawk joined us after another. My hair started float like clouds and then rained poured from them (There were even little miniature bolts of lightning. I might have gotten a little burned.).

Then, the most unexpected thing happened.

After using one rune, two, four, three, seven, and trying slightly altering them, I settled on two basic runes. The ‘day’ rune and a more fluid rune called ‘riding’. Riding is abstract in that it moves things forward. What it ‘moves forward’ depends on the other runes used. That’s why I shied away from it. I was getting at the end of my rope, though, so I used it. That’s when...the map images started to move and a spot on the map blinked. Wait. What?...It had worked?

It had worked! That meant that the angel was in the city! I glared at the map. That area wasn’t even an hour walk away from here.

Wait. What?

This also meant...I had found a rune combination that had worked.

Yes!!!!!

I stumbled to my feet and started to walk, peering at the map every couple seconds. Okay. Turn here. Walk there.

Forty minutes later, I stood in front of a little shop. Half way through my walk the map had blinked and returned to normal. I had run out of energy and honestly was feeling pretty shaky. I had nearly passed out again. Luckily, I had my talent, so I knew exactly where the map had been pointing.

I took a deep breath and opened the store door. Ding. A woman in a short black dress stood behind a register.     

“Hello! Welcome to Bimbo’s and Betty’s shop!” she said in a high pitched voice.

I blinked. “Ah. Thanks.” I couldn’t help but stop there and stare. She was the angel? This...wasn’t what I’d imagined an angel to look like. That dress was really skimpy. It started with a scandalously low neckline and ended halfway up her thighs. I thought angels were very picky about modesty? “Are you Betty then?” What should I ask her? Are you an angel? Yeah right. That would work out great.

“Yes, I am,” Betty said with a smile. She glanced out the window before turning back to me. “Can I help you with anything?”

“Um.” If only I had enough energy to turn the map back on and look. I tapped my foot for a moment. The angel could very well have been a customer too. I couldn’t make assumptions. “I was wondering if you knew the city well?” If she were an angel, then she probably wouldn’t know the city. Especially if she’d been following Bendy and Boris around.

Betty smiled and nodded. “Pretty well. I’ve had to do a lot of runnin’ around these parts. My beau has me doin’ favors once in a while, and I have my friends to visit!” She glanced out the window again.

I tilted my head. “Are you alright?”

“What?” Betty focused on her.

I frowned. “You just seem distracted.”

“Oh, that. Well, a friend of mine just raced out of here like a sinner in church,” Betty said. “I’m a touch worried.”

I blinked. Hmmm. This warranted further search, but until I gathered the energy to use my map again, I just couldn’t tell. It could be her. Maybe it was her friend. Or maybe the angel had just visited this shop briefly. “I’m sorry.” I looked at a clock on the wall. It was starting to get late. At this point, I supposed that it might be best to check in with Xedo anyways. “Is there anything I could do to help?”   

“No sweetie, but thank you,” Betty said. “I don’t even know how to help. I’ll just have to wait to hear from her.” She shrugged.

I nodded. “Thanks. I hope whatever is happening with your friend, that she’s okay.” With that, I walked out the front door and down the street.

As I headed towards Xedo’s apartment, I started to ponder again. There was something that I hadn’t considered before. I’d designed this map to looks for angels, but I hadn’t considered the fact that this map didn’t pinpoint one in particular. It was like the other map in that it showed you what was nearby. The angel from that shop might not be Boris’ angel. He or she might be a completely different one.

Another hour later, I reached Xedo’s apartment. I knocked on the door lightly. Then I waited a moment. A minute or two passed. I knocked again, harder. Nothing.

I frowned.

Where were they? Not even Wiston was home? I scratched my head, walking back down the street. Maybe they were at Granny’s. I shrugged. That seemed like a good as guess as any. I might as well check at Granny’s. It wasn’t like I had anything better to do.

More time passed. The sun disappeared behind the horizon. In the twilight of the night, I pulled out the map I had created. Hmmm. I wanted to try again. I touched the runes. As I walked, I tried to activate it. Nothing.

Really? Well, I had used a lot of energy bef--SMACK. A rushing figure nearly slammed into me. At the last second, the girl dodged around me and continued to race down the street. I peered after her. Black hair. She was wearing a simple knee length dress. Was that...Alice?

“Sorry!” She continued to run.

When I turned back around, I saw Avery the wolf racing after her. He was panting, his shirt had a few large leaves stuck in his collar and sleeves. He looked...scary. His lips were pulled back to show his sharp fangs. My heart leapt in fear. Apples! His eyes were completely focused on the girl that had run past.

I blinked. Nu-uh. I’d had it with guys who harassed women. I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out the pepper spray that had been sitting there for two months.

Pssssssh.

When he was two feet away from me, I pressed the top of the spray, putting a hand on my hip as the wolf walked right into my attack.  

He howled in pain and collapsed on the ground. He rolled around, his hands on his face. “What da cussin’ hell!” he shrieked in pain.  

“Oh, I am sooooo sorry!” I clapped my hands together, trying to keep the sarcasm from leaking through my voice. “I thought I saw a bee.” I put my hands on my hips before leaning down to touch his shoulder. “You really shouldn’t be running down the street, you know.”

“Damn!” He rubbed at his eyes and tried to look up. They were watering terribly. His nose was also running. “Ware did she go?” He turned to Holly. “Did ya see ware she wen’?”

I pulled on his shoulder. “Here, let me help you up.” I stalled answering his question. “Let me take you to a hospital. I really am so sorry.”

“No hospital. I don’ got time for dat,” Avery said. “Damn. Jus’ needed ‘er da listen da me! What am I gonna do now!”

I raised my brow, actually feeling a little guilty. “I’m sorry.” This time I actually meant it (sort of). “I didn’t catch where she went. She was moving pretty quick.” His face was pretty swollen. “If you don’t want to go to the hospital, can I take you somewhere else since you can’t really see anything?”

He sighed. His ears and shoulders dropped in defeat. “How lon’ do ya dink dey be at da hospital? I’m gonna haf da move quick.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t ever gone to the hospital here (I have good health.). But if you need to move fast, I can try and help. I think I could get it off myself if we had a little milk and a spray bottle.”

“Eder way,” he whimpered.

“Well…” I swallowed, putting the wolf’s hand on my shoulder as I led him down the street. It took us another fifteen minutes to get to a little grocery shop. I had him sit on a bench at the front while I grabbed what we needed. I sighed as the last of my savings disappeared into the cashier’s drawer.

When I got back to the front of the store, I bit my lip. Huh. This might take a bit, so it’d be good to find a place to sit for a while. The park was too far away. Where else could we go? I touched his shoulder. “So, is there any place nearby we can go while I treat you?”

“Not dat I know of,” he mumbled.

I frowned. “Hmmm.” Wait. I looked over at a nearby street sign. “I think I know where we can go.” I grabbed his elbow. “C’mon.”

The two of us walked a little ways down the street until I reached the little soup house I had been visiting for the last two week. At first when we got there, the little lady who ran it tried to stop us from walking in. She insisted that Avery needed to go to the hospital. When I pointed out that he was in a lot of pain, and I could easily treat him myself as long as we had a place to lay him down, she gave in.

Avery lay down on a little side couch in a corner. I took the milk and applied it to his face, let it sit and rinsed it. After doing this a couple times, I got a rag from the soup kitchen lady and soaked it in the rest of the milk and lay it across his face.

“Danks miss. Sorry da haf startled ya,” he muttered. He had gone mostly quiet since they got to the soup kitchen.

“You’re welcome. I’m sorry for spraying you in the face. Though, whatever were you running after that girl for?” (Curse my curiosity.)

“Da lady ran awf wid someding really importan’.” He sighed. “I was gonna save my gal wid it. Now, I don’ dink I’ll get ta see her eva again. I messed up real big dis time.”

I frowned. His gal? I thought back. Yeah. Granny had said something about a girl named...Red? Well, I guess he really did care. Although, he was stupid about the way he acted when she wasn’t around. Granny was right about that. “I’m not sure specifically what is going on with you, but I would advise against giving up prematurely. You never know what might happen.”

He only grunted.

I shrugged. Well. We sat there for another half an hour as it truly got dark outside. Finally, I took the rag off his face and wrung it out. His face still looked horrible, but now he could see.

“I bedda buk it. I don’ dink I haf long before dey come for me.” Avery sat up. “Hey, liddle miss. Could ya do me one favor? If ya ever meet Red, tell her dis star-fallen idjit was sorry.” His eyes softened as he spoke.

My lips fell even more. “I can do that.” I got the sense that this guy was planning on disappearing quick, and not showing up again.

He let out a breath of air. “Danks. Sure wish I coulda--Well, don’ madder none. She’ll be bedder off. Goodbye liddle miss.” Avery stood up. He pocketed his hands and walked to the door.

I scowled. I hated it when people spent time blaming themselves. Why couldn’t people just look for a solution? And yet, judging from what I’d seen, he’d probably done something really stupid and dangerous. My expression softened. “Stay safe, Avery.”

He chuckled. “Now, wad fun would dat be?” Then, he was gone into the night.

I let out a deep sigh. This was going to be a long night. The soup kitchen lady offered me some leftovers from dinner before I headed back out. Since I was still close to Granny’s, I headed there, just in case Alice had gone back. I knocked on the front door.

“Granny, it’s Holly May,” I called out.  

“Holly?” An old voice asked from the other side. “Oh! Holly!” The door flew open so fast it nearly hit me.

I stumbled backward. “Hi Granny.” I waved slowly. “Sorry for coming by so late.”

“Nevermind that. Come in!” Granny waved a hand. She seemed agitated. The old gopher rushed back into the kitchen, leaving me at the door. She could sure move fast for someone that needed a cane. I followed her in.

“You know Alice, right? Have you seen her within the last half hour?”

Granny stopped putting packages and jars into a middle sized basket. She looked up from her task with wide eyes. “Have you seen her?”

I nodded. “I saw Avery chasing her down the street. She managed to lose him, though.”

“What is that wolf thinking!” Granny huffed. “I’ll knock his block off when he comes back!” She waved her cane threateningly. I ducked. “Oops! Sorry dear! I’m caught up in a real tizzy here.” She began fretting over the basket again.

I tilted my head. “Do you know what happened?” (What had Alice run off with? And why?)

Granny glanced at me. “Not as much as I’d like,” she huffed. “Youngin’s these days, all rushing round like they’ve lost their heads!” She fit in a jar of jam and something wrapped in paper.

My frown deepened. Huh. Obviously everyone was wound up about something. Something important. Bendy and Boris? But Alice ran off with something. Who exactly was Alice and how was she involved in this anyways? Something important...The map? No, that was with Bendy and Boris. The journal page? That was also probably with them. The machine item they had mentioned? I paused. That would be bad.

 “And done!” Granny smiled. “Now, I just need to get this to that saucy fox, and we’ll be set.”

“Huh?” She seemed to be more focused on the jam preserves than on this. Which meant...I have no clue why.

“Granny?”

“Yes, dear?” Granny looked up.

“What’s with the preservatives?”

“Uh?” Granny glanced at the basket. “Oh, just some goodies I need to deliver to Mr. Tiptail. He has done us a huge favor by getting that story out,” Granny smiled. A spark suddenly entered her eyes. “Would you mind delivering it for me?”

I blinked. “Okay.”

Granny brightened up immediately. “Wonderful! It shouldn’t take you long to run this errand for me. Oh, thank you!” She put a cloth over the basket. She grabbed it and paused before passing it to me. Her grin disappeared for a second. She seemed to hesitate. “Though...there is something important in there. Make sure you get it to him. Please be safe!”

I nodded. At this point, it seemed best not to ask. There was something important in there? Granny practically pushed me out the front door and onto the street. I stumbled outside, resisting the (strong) urge to take a peek inside the basket.

That’s when I remembered.

The black car was still there, sitting in front of the house.

Stars.

I started to walk down the street, balancing the basket on my arm. Softly, almost with not sound, I heard the car start behind me. I probably wouldn’t have even noticed if I hadn’t seen it there before. My back immediately straightened, and as I walked down the dark street, I tried to keep in the light, underneath the street lamps.

Okay. I needed to lose the car.

I waited until I had just left the light of a street. Then, I quickly slid my Fade bracelet on my wrist. I turned a corner into an alley, walking as quickly as I could.

That’s when I heard the car right behind me.

Almost literally all the air went out of me. What the heck? How was he following me still? I had Fade on! I started to run down the alley. That’s when I looked back and realized that the car had just driven right past. I let out a long breath. That had scared me.

Soon after I arrived at Xedo’s place. I rapped on the door, shifting uncomfortably in the dark.   

The door opened slowly. Wiston peeked out before relaxing. “Oh, Holly, it’s you.” He opened the door fully. “Come on in.”

I quickly slid inside, glancing back at the road one last time. “Hey Wiston. Where's Xedo? Is Alice here?”

“Alice? No. Big bro is in the office. I’ll get him for ya.” Wiston rushed down the hall and around a corner. There was the sound of rustling and something falling over before the two reappeared.

“Holly, hello.” Xedo came around the corner, rubbing his head. Wiston was on his heels with his ears pinned to his skull.

“Is that for us?” Wiston pointed at the basket.

I blinked and looked at the basket. “Yes. But have either of you heard from Alice? I saw her being chased an hour ago, and I haven’t seen her since. I helped her lose Avery, though.” I offered the basket to Xedo.

The foxes blink in unison. “Chased?” Xedo asked.

“Did you say Avery?” Wiston wrinkled his snout.

“Why was Avery chasing her?” Xedo asked in astonishment. He went into the kitchen with the basket.

“He said she took something important. He didn't say what it was.”

Wiston gave her a confused look. One ear up and the other down. Xedo came back into the living room with a note in his hand and a serious look in his sharp eyes. “I think I have a guess at what happened,” he murmured. “Thank Mrs. Gopher for the treats. They’re appreciated.”

“What happened?” Wiston asked.

“I believe we have a traitor in our midst...Or had. Appears that Alice handled the situation, but where did she go?” Xedo frowned. “I’ll try to call her.” The older fox headed to the phone.

I sat down on the couch, listening as he called. The phone seemed to ring, but after a moment he laid down the mouthpiece on the hook again.

“No good.”

Wiston turned to me. “Are you sure she got away?”

I shrugged. “I know for sure Avery didn’t catch her, but I lost sight of her pretty much as soon as she ran by.”

“I hope she’s safe,” Wiston said.

“We all do,” Xedo said. He turned to me. “Thank you for bringing this to us, Miss May.”

I folded my arms. That sounded like a dismissal. “What’s in the basket Xedo? I’ve been polite. I didn’t look, but I’m not going to let you just usher me out when I saw Alice being chased down the street, then promptly had Granny chase me out the door with this basket.”

Xedo sighed. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t. It’s just safer that you didn’t know, but it’s here now so…”

“What’s here?” Wiston asked with furrowed brows.

“The machine piece is here. Holly was kind enough to bring it here for us.” Xedo held up the note. “Apparently, Mrs. Gopher dressed it up as a gift basket to bring here when Alice told her to get it out of the house. Avery was planning something, and Alice stopped him.”

I let out a long breath. “Oh stars.” I ran a hand through my hair. “We need to go look for Alice then.”

Things went pretty quickly from there. Xedo went out to grab what he needed while I waited. It started to rain heavily outside. When he was ready, we set out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tap: Soooo long. So drama...Ghost so out of it. Mer-Cow so out of it.  
> Mercowe: Almost...caught up...
> 
> Also, when I posted this chapter, I neglected to post something. All of the strange things Holly went through this chapter were inspired by amazing pintrest pictures Tap found. Here they are in order of tests.
> 
> Test 2  
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> Test 4  
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> Test 5  
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> Test 6  
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> Test 8  
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> Test 11  
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> Test 13  
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> Test 14  
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> Summarized Tests  
> 


	51. October 20, Thursday (Part One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These last two parts have honestly been a lot of fun writing. I really enjoyed Holly and all the horribly strange things that happened in her experiments. I also really enjoy the friendship that Alice and Holly are building. Most of all, I hope you guys enjoy these side stories too!

Today, I woke up on a couch. It was pretty amazing. For a moment when I woke, I was really confused about where I was. It was a wonderfully ironic start to a very interesting day. Me and Xedo searched for hours last night. We went to Alice’s apartment and looked around Granny’s house. At that point, I was practically unconscious (Honestly, I had little energy to begin with after everything else I did yesterday.). So, when Xedo offered me the couch at his apartment, I didn’t say no. Xedo and I were preparing to go out and look again this morning when I remembered something. Last night, after spending so much time in the rain, I had noticed that Snowball was shivering a lot in my pocket. She (He? It?) had stayed so quiet in there for the last day that I had almost forgotten about her. This in mind, I decided that I should leave her at the apartment.

There was just one problem.

Wiston.

Snowball technically was spawned from a dandelion. Therefore, she was very flammable. I didn’t have anywhere else I could leave her. Not unless I wanted to walk an hour, all the way back to Granny’s.

So I decided. I needed to talk to Wiston.

He sat at the kitchen table as Xedo was preparing to leave in his room. Taking a deep mental breath, I sat down in front of him, giving him a level gaze.

“So Wiston. I have something to discuss with you.”

The younger fox blinked blurredly at me. His fur was sticking up in places, and he was still in his night clothes. “Uh? ‘Bout what?”

He reached for a piece of toast, missed, and had to look at it before taking it.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the dandehog. “This,” I set her on the table, “is Snowball.” She started to float in the air. That got his attention. The fox’s ears perked, and he set down the toast.

“What the heavens?” he muttered.

I laced my fingers together. “She’s a small fragile creature.” (I thought about the other dandehogs that had disappeared.) “Because of that, I don’t want to take her back out in the rain.”

“It’s a plant rodent. Why do you have a flying plant rodent?” Wiston blinked several times at the dandehog. She had reached the ceiling by now. Bumping up against it, she started to spin lazily and drift towards the back of the kitchen. He looked like he wanted to touch her.

I snapped my fingers in front of him to regain his attention. “Hey. Wiston.” When he looked back at me, I continued. “She also happens to be very flammable.” My eyes flashed. “I’m giving you a one time warning. If you do anything to that creature, I will end you.”

“Sure, sure,” he waved off the threat. “But seriously, how did you get it? What is it? Just...how?” He seemed completely baffled by the little floating creature who was now curiously exploring an old spider web in one corner of the ceiling.

I raised a brow. Okay? He seemed to get the message? “I made her...on accident?”

“ _Made_ her?” Wiston’s eyes doubled in size. He turned from Snowball to me and back again. He narrowed his eyes. “You have some stories to share,” he said.

“What stories?” Xedo walked in with a coat and hat in hand.

“Holly can do some crazy magic!” Wiston said pointing to Snowball. At this point it was just easier to point along with him.

Xedo glanced up and then did a double take. His eyes widened. The fox tilted his head and blinked. He seemed to shake off his surprise faster than Wiston did. “Interesting.”

“That’s all you have to say!” Wiston demanded. “It’s a plant rodent!”

“And you’re a fire animal,” Xedo shot back.

I glanced between them. “Anyways, I was just letting Wiston know that I need to leave her here while we’re out. _And_ that she is off limits of from any of his fiery antics.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that. Plants may be in danger and furniture, but my brother has never burned an animal or person,” Xedo said and grabbed a bagel from the table.

Wiston looked up at the little creature again. “Burning hair smells gross.”

Before I really thought about it I answered him. “Actually, she really doesn’t have hair. She’s more plant. Her fur is made up of tiny little dandelion seeds.”

Wiston and Xedo tilted their heads. Snowball took this as an opportunity to bounce off the top of Xedo’s head and project herself towards a box of cereal. It...was cute. “Really?” Xedo asked.

“A flying plant.” Wiston shook his head. “Wonder what kind of fireball that would look like.” I twitched. Wiston...

“Don’t Wiston,” Xedo sighed.

“I won’t!” Wiston’s voice sounded whiny.

“You better not. Now, I must be going. We still haven’t seen or heard from Alice,” Xedo went to grab his coat and hat.

I took this an opportunity to use my last ditch plan. “Hey Wiston. Come over here to the window.” I stood.  

“Uuuh, no?” Wiston said giving me a look like I was nuts.

I smiled. It was strained. “It’s sort of important, Wiston.”

The fox gave me a suspicious look before cautiously approaching me.  

I pointed out the window at a tree not far from the apartment. You see...the deer hawk had been following me since yesterday. Wiston looked out. It took him a moment to spot the strange sight. When he did, his jaw hung open in shock.

I raised a brow. “I also made that. (On accident.) If you light Snowball on fire, I will make you into that (Not really, even if I'd understood how I’d done it in the first place. But he didn’t know that.). Okay?”

“What is wrong with you!” Wiston threw his arms up. “D-did you do that to someone?! Please say no!”

“No Wiston! It was an accident! They weren’t people! (Right? I never did really see where the light had started…That makes the deer hawk even more traumatizing…)” I threw my hands in the air.

Wiston nodded his head with his ears pinned to his skull. “O-okay. I promise. I won’t light the weird pet on fire. Please don’t curse me.” He whimpered. I realized at that moment that I may have taken this a little too far.

I opened and closed my mouth. “I would never...I’m sorry...I just...I didn’t really mean it.” I hung my head. “I just really don’t want you to torch Snowball, okay?”

“Uh-huh. No torching the witch’s pet.” I flinched, but let it go. “Got it. Absolutely. I like my fur to stay where it is,” Wiston said and looked out the window again. The deerhawk had disappeared from the tree. Wiston leaned out, only to have the beast swoop up to the window sill. “A-ahhh!” It sounded like a baby deer.

“AHHH!” Wiston fell back in surprise.

The (bird?) hopped onto my arm next, glaring at Wiston. It was eyeing something behind me. I turned and saw bits of a leftover salad on the counter. I picked a leaf up, and it immediately snatched it away.

“Golly, that thing is nutty!” Wiston pulled himself back up. He stared at it with large eyes. “Does it have a name too?”

I looked at him. “Uh...Hawde?”

“That’s...ridiculous. Fireball works better than that.” Wiston put his hands on his hips. The deerhawk gave a little cry. “What. You like that? Fireball?” It went ‘a-ahh’ again.

I folded my arms. “How does anything about him remind you of a fireball?”

“The way he just popped up out of nowhere,” Wiston said. “Like a fireball flying through the air.”

That...made no sense. But, I didn’t have a name for the creature anyways, so…

“Okay. Fireball, it is.”

Wiston nodded and stared at it. “I got to show this to Xedo. If the hedgehog was a surprise for him, then I want to see what he thinks of this.” The younger fox turned away to look for his brother. “Xedo!” He rushed off down the hall. “I gotta show you something before you go!”

“What is it?” Xedo asked.

“Something way weirder than that hedgehog!” Wiston said pulling him in. The deerbird made a noise in it’s throat before swooping out the window.

“Here!” Wiston waved his arm.

“Where?” Xedo looked around the corner. He eyed me, and I shrugged. I wasn’t sure I wanted more people to know the strange products of my experiments...

“Where did it go? Fireball?” Wiston called out.

“We don’t have time for this Wiston.” Xedo sighed. “I have to get going.”

“But there was this really weird deerhawk thing! It really was here!” Wiston said and looked out the window.

“Okay. I’ll be seeing you later.” Xedo turned. Wiston made a sound of frustration.

Xedo and I left again after this. An hour or two more passed with no luck, so I came back. Honestly, I was exhausted. It had been two or three last night before Xedo and I had given up the search, and I had used so much energy already yesterday. I could barely stay on my feet long enough to get back to Xedo’s apartment. I don’t really remember much of coming in. I pretty much arrived, sat down for a quick moment so I could update Wiston, and passed out.

When I woke up, Alice was there.

I have a lot to cover, so I’ll just summarize here, but we found out from her that Avery didn’t believe the machine parts would really work. I felt a little bit of frustration at this because I was curious why, but unfortunately no one seemed inclined to show me what the machine part looked like yet. And I just couldn’t bring myself to try and push it considering how much trouble everyone had been through recently.

Xedo, Wiston, Alice and I realized a few things talking together. The black car has been following everyone who leaves Granny’s house. Also we guessed that the mob might be meeting this week in that warehouse because of all that has happened. We decided to head over to the police station.

This was convenient for me because while we had been looking for Alice last night, I had tried to go to the police department. There had been a huge crowd outside. That had been enough to keep me from being able to talk to any of the officers before, and I still had things I needed to tell them.

Alice and I decided to go together. We took a cab to the police station. When we arrived, the newsies were gone, but the officers were running around like a they were a hive of bees that Yen Sid had just kicked.

I gulped. “Wow. This place is crazy.” Being around so many people, not to mention officers, made me anxious.

“It’s not always like this?” Alice asked.

I couldn’t help myself (especially since I knew Alice had a sense of humor.). “No. Usually there are more people drinking coffee and eating donuts.” I laughed quietly.

“Donuts?”

That stopped me short. She didn’t know what donuts were? Was she serious? She was pulling a joke on me right? I frowned. “Sugar covered pastries with hole in them? Unholy desserts that taunt any attempt at dieting? The stereotypical sustenance for policeman? Anything ring a bell?” Alice continued to stare blankly at me and it slowly dawned that she wasn’t kidding. That was really odd...and it wasn’t the first odd thing she’d said to me either. She hadn’t known what I was talking about when I mentioned the commissioner either. “You’re really uniformed, aren’t you?” But why? Those were common things, right?

Her face blushed, and she grasped for words. It sort of reminded of me when Wiston and Xedo had been trying to convince me that Bendy and Boris weren’t at their apartment. “Oh! Um...well...heh.” She paused. “What was that?”

Why wouldn’t she know…? I took a moment to consider things. Well, commissioners were a big city thing. I had heard the word before I’d gotten to the city, but I definitely hadn’t known what a commissioner was when I’d gotten here. Maybe she’d come to the city recently too? What about the donut? Well...not everywhere had donuts, and some people’s parents had interesting quirks about what they let their kids eat.

I smiled. “Don’t worry. I was a country girl when I first came to Toon Town too, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask me, and I will explain things.”

She blinked widely, looking more confused than ever. She then looked down with embarrassment. “It’s that obvious, uh?”

I shrugged. This girl was weird. That’s a statement, by the way, not a judgement. I’m also weird. “Every person has their specialty. Yours doesn’t seem to be understanding the legal system, at least not that I’ve noticed in the last hour.” Now I sort of wanted to ask her what her home was like. If was anything close to being as weird as mine, I could probably get some good stories from her.

“Yeah…” She seemed uneasy about the whole subject. I guess it was time to move on.

I raised my finger. “Don’t give up though, there is a method to the madness.” I instantly had the image of the commissioner talking to Fairfax. I scowled. “At least when there are decent people in charge.”

Alice looked at me. “Is it really different here than where you’re from?”

That hit me, and I folded my arms for a quick thought. It was very different, but it wasn’t the legal system that set it apart. I didn’t even know where to start with my home. “When you’re in a small town, you pretty much know who would do what. Although, I guess close environments create the best secret keepers as well. We only had about six cops in our police department where I come from. They were easy to work with. Although, once the local bandit managed to steal everything off our chief of police, even his badge…and his shirt...and his pants.”

At that moment, I figured I should stop putting my foot in my mouth. Although as a child, watching the bandit steal had been like watching a magic show, but less traumatizing (The magicians that came to my town had a bad sense of humor. Once, one had turned his volunteer into a rope of black ink. I still think that’s one of the weirdest things I’ve seen.). “Personally, I think things get more tangled with bigger numbers.”

Alice started to nod in agreement when the woman at the desk cleared her throat. Alice looked up. “Oh! Sorry! Hello, um. We’re here to see the detectives again.” I had stopped when I’d seen her. It was the same woman who’d been here when my purse had been stolen. This would not go well.

“They are extremely busy,” she huffed, looking annoyed at us.

“I understand. They’ll want to see us anyway. It’s important.” I raised a brow. Nice. Alice was still smiling.

“What business do you have with the detectives?” The woman started to organize the papers on her desk with a bored expression.

“It’s about a case they are working on right now.”

The woman held out a paper. “Then, you can fill out one of these forms, and I’ll be sure they get it.” My brow twitched. Oh, so now she had the right paperwork. I’d had enough of this lady. I knew exactly what I wanted to say to her.

Alice pushed the paper away. “Thank you. But this isn’t a matter that can be simply written out. I have questions too. They are the only ones that can help me.” Alice spoke before I had a chance.

The woman frowned, now looking irritated. “I am sure I can answer any question you have.”

I was just about to try and talk again when Alice smiled slowly. It was outwardly pleasant, but a shiver ran up my spine. Alice started to speak.

“Okay.” The word hit me. It was filled with energy.

“Why are you locking up innocent people and letting liars get away with publicly humiliating others?” I blinked. What? She was blunt!

“Why are honest people getting fired, instead of cheats?” I frowned. That was a bittersweet question.

“Why are the police failing to protect these citizens from the falsehood and corruption of their leaders?” I was starting to nod. Wow. I liked this girl’s spunk.

“Why do you people eat donuts?”

Wait. What?

I hadn’t meant that literally!!! No! Donuts were fine! I like them! Alice, how could you take that literally! What sort of person would take that comment literally!?!

In a daze, I returned to what Alice was saying. “What can I do to get past you? You think you can have your way and only work when you want to, but I see your intent and ma’am, envy is a very ugly thing.” Well. My head spun a little. She’d guessed this woman’s emotions pretty spot on. The woman’s jaw had dropped, and she was sputtering, trying to come up with an excuse.

I took a deep breath. Okay. She just needed one more push. I put my hand on her desk. “Miss, you need to stop stonewalling us. Otherwise, I’m going to have to tell the chief that last time I was here, you had me go back to the filing room to get my form, instead of getting it yourself. He wouldn’t be happy to hear that you’ve been letting random people wander inside the police station, would he?”

The woman paled. “Fine. Just go.” She pointed.

Satisfied, I let out a breath of relief, and we headed down the hall. When we knocked on the detectives door I heard the raccoon’s voice through the door. “Clawhauser! If that is another processing form that needs signing, I am going to pull your tail off and toss it out in the rain! One more paper cut, and I will quit!”

I blinked and started to open the door. Well, it looked like things were tense here too. “Oh shush, Rachel. We’re almost done.”

“I hate paperwork!” The raccoon replied loudly.

I knew she didn’t mean it literally, but my practical side just couldn’t let that go. I grinned as we entered. “If you quit, it’s going to cause a lot of people a lot of problems.” 

The raccoon jumped and pointed. “Wah! You!”

“Yes.” I tried to remain as serious as I could. “Us.” I nodded at Alice. “We both have some things we need to talk to you about.”

The raccoon didn’t seem to hear me. She looked a the bird. “You knew they were coming! You set me up! No wonder you straightened yourself out!”

They continued to jabber back and forth until the bird detective asked Alice if she needed a ride to the prison. I was curious why she would need the detectives to take her there.

“Before we head to the prison,” I interrupted them. “There were a few more things I needed to tell you about from when I…” I blinked. It wouldn’t be very smart to talk about my stalking habits in the middle of a police department. “When I was gathering information. You two were in such a rush before that I didn’t have the chance to tell you everything.”

After a moment the bird detective spoke. “Sounds like we need to go on a drive.”

After a few more moments we headed out the door and down the hall. We were getting near the door when I saw a distant figure that I instantly recognized. It was the commissioner.

Cold fear went through my body. My head started to buzz, and I edged toward the wall, hoping that he would walk by. No such luck. He headed straight towards us. I had never really figured out whether they knew I had been watching them.

“Detectives.” He stopped in front of our group. I relaxed a little when he focused his attention on the detectives.

“Commissioner, sir.” Ringtail’s greeted was bland.

“What are you doing? I thought you were doing papers today.”

“Something came up, sir. We’ll be right back,” Featherworth reasoned.

His eyes turned on Alice and I. My fingers started the curl in a little. “What came up?”

Ringtail nodded at Alice. “She needs an escort, and there are some things we need to do about the Bbro case.”

“The B-brothers?” He got closer to Alice. I tensed. I had the sudden impulse to pull out my pepper spray and go at his face like I had with the wolf. He was purposely trying to use his size as an intimidation. He would deserve it. “What ties do you have with the B-brothers?”

Alice’s reply was cool. “I served Bendy drinks at the Black Hat Casino sometime back.” The commissioner blinked.

“Ah sorry, you are?”

“Alice.” She nodded at me. “And this is Holly. If you don’t mind, sir. We have a very busy day today and the weather isn’t helping. I’d rather get going.” I wanted to bless Alice. Yes. We needed to leave.

His eyes snapped to me, and I almost jumped. “Holly? That name sounds familiar.”

My stomach jumped into my mouth and started to do the mambo. It was a miracle I could speak at all, but I managed to smile and reply. “Well. It is the name of a plant. I’d imagine it would sound familiar to anyone.” Wow. I was really bad at lying. It was a miracle that I’d been able to get out of so many difficult situations doing this.

The commissioner continued to look at me with a dissatisfied expression. “No, it was in the papers some time ago I think.”

“Sir.” Featherworth cut him off. “We need to go.”

“Where are you going?” he asked suspiciously.

“The prison,” The bird detective answered.

“Why?”

“They need an escort,” Featherworth reminded him.

“You don’t have time for that. They can take a cab themselves. Interview them here and get back to productive work.” I felt my stomach fall back down again. No. If they couldn’t leave, then what about the potential meeting at the warehouse?

The detectives tried to reason with him, but he wouldn’t be moved. A few moments later we filed back into their office. I wanted to pull out my hair. What would we do now?

When we got back into the office, the crow had a note for us.

_Bugs in the room. Can’t talk here._

“Sorry we couldn’t take you to the prison. You can still take a cab. We’ll take your witness statements and let you get on with your day.” Featherworth talked while she held up the pad.

Horsefeathers. We couldn’t even talk freely. I gulped. It was a good thing I had stopped myself from talking about the warehouse earlier. Then the commish would know I knew. I’d have been a goner. Which reminded me. We needed to figure out what to do about that meeting. The commissioner had gone for the door the moment he’d finished talking with us. I was ninety percent sure he was going to another of those meetings.

I took the pencil and paper from Featherworth.

 _Commissioner is definitely going out to meet the Sykes and a bunch of other bad people_ _right now_ _. Is there anyone else you trust that you can send?_

“So, what was your experience with the Bbros?” Ringtail was writing on the pad now.

Alice glanced at Ringtail and then me. She spoke. “Well, it was rather typical,” Alice said.

_Not right now. Everyone we know that’s clean is off on a case or stuck here with us. The commish covered his bases. Even the chief is busy. I think he’s suspicious of us. He must think we’re on to him!_

I tapped my finger on the desk. The chief had been the next one I was going to suggest. This was awful...

Alice continued to talk as I thought about what to write. “They didn’t talk about anything noticeable. A trip here, a night on the town there. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before. That’s why I was so surprised when they were arrested.” I already knew what needed to happen. I didn’t want to do it. Which is why I couldn’t bring myself to directly say it.

_We need to be at that meeting._

“And you, Miss Holly? What was your experience?” Featherworth took the pencil from me as soon as I finished.

 _We_ _can’t go, and I can’t tell you to go endanger yourself. It’s against my oath._

I snorted. There really wasn’t time for this dancing around the bush approach. If we were going to do this we needed to leave. “They came in, asked for directions and left. If anything, I would have mistaken them for a pair of lost hikers before wanted fugitives.”

Ringtail was writing now.

_I don’t care. They need to be caught._

I sighed. It needed to happen. The idea of going to that warehouse terrified me. But it needed to happen. However, if something did happen there, I needed to be prepared. At that moment, I decided to give the detectives my journal. I’d been hiding it underneath my shirt. (There’s no way I wouldn’t notice if someone tried to steal it from me there.) So I turned around and pulled this out.

I handed it to Ringtail.

Things happened quickly from there. Featherworth fought the idea at first, but in the end, we ended up with her car keys on the road towards the warehouse.

“So, where do you want to go?” I’ll be honest here. This Alice girl is nice. I love her puns, but I didn’t even think I should be going back to the warehouse. I was scared, and in some weak way, I wanted to convince her to go somewhere else. I was trying to subtly give her an option.

Alice thought for a moment. “We need to go to that meeting. We have to know what they’re planning.” I frowned. Well, my subtly had gone completely over her head. It didn’t surprise me though. I was a bit vague sometimes.

“What I meant was, you never agreed to go to the warehouse. I did. Those people are serious trouble. The Sykes will kill for fun.” (Or worse). I trailed off. I needed to convince her not to come.

“And?” Alice had on a funny expression, as if she thought I was being weird. As if I didn’t make sense. “You sprayed a wolf for me yesterday, saved my skirt really. You don’t think I would just let you run off to a meeting full of dangerous criminals alone, do you?”

I blinked. This gal really just simply expected to come. In a moment of clarity I realized that what was happening probably mattered as much to her as it did to me. My expression melted, and I shrugged.

“I was taught as a child never to make assumptions.”

Without missing a beat, Alice responded. “And I was taught to never leave behind a friend, but thanks for checking with me.” It was so matter of fact. Straightforward reality echoed in her voice and for the second time in the day, I wondered why this girl was just so different.

We arrived at the warehouse and after a bit of discussion we got out of the car and approached the Sykes’ warehouse. I’d come back here after the first time once. It was after I’d gone homeless, when I’d been depressed and looking for leads. I hadn’t discovered a way in, but I had found a side door with a lower window than the one I’d tried to peek through.

There was a walkway over the water leading to a door. The problem, however, was that the window was twelve feet to the right of the walkway, over the water. Which is probably why they left it open.

Thinking about it on the way here, I had decided that I would use Break. Break is a rune I learned while doing research for the map. I knew it wouldn’t be useful for my research then, but when I’d found it, I’d thought to this door immediately. Once I broke it, the Sykes security would go up, but I’d thought that it was more important that we gather information from their meeting.

That is...until Alice took matters into her own hands.

“Perfect.” Alice’s mutter pulled me out of my thoughts. Her legs started to tense as she prepared to leap for the window.

Sheer panic raced through me. I snatched the back of Alice’s collar just as she was about to jump. “Don’t do that!” It’s twelve feet out--over the water! “You'll fall in the water. Not to mention, you’ll attract attention.”

I was about to tell her about my rune when she smirked. “Oh ye of little faith. Watch.” Her confidence made me stop, so when she turned back to jump, I only could watch in curiosity.

Her legs tensed again. Then she was gone.

I mean it.

Literally.

All I did was blink.

One moment I was standing there watching her, the next _she was swinging from the window_. If I had known she could move so fast I would have let my eyes dry out before shutting them. She’d swung from the edge with considerable force. As I stood there, stunned, she lifted herself into the open window.

I went to the edge of the walkway and leaned out as far as I could, peering at the window. I was right. She’d left finger marks in the wood.

Whatever she was, Alice was definitely _not_ human.

The information spun in my head like a cotton candy machine collecting sugar. She didn’t know much about law. She’d taken my donut joke seriously. She had a funny way of _knowing_ things about people. She had superhuman strength and speed. What exactly was she?

The answer hit me like a ton of bricks right as Alice opened the door.

Alice was the angel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> She figured it out?!?!?! Or at least is suspicious...wow. I had no idea. Alice be on your guard! (She won't be.) (Oh and Hi! Tap here) Holly is just one surprise after another. I love it! And that terrifying deerhawk...nightmare fuel. At least the dandehog is adorable. This is amazing. What do you guys think?


	52. October 20, Thursday (Part Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for those who were waiting for an update in the main story last Saturday. Tap really has been struggling with writing Mr. Winky and the court scenes...Mostly Mr. Winky though. Tap was trying to find a good ending point for the chapter last week, but she just couldn't make it because she was struggling. Because of that we decided to try and do the entire thing in one fell swoop, section it out and post all the court stuff in one day. That adds up to three or so chapters we'll post tomorrow in the main story. Look forward to it!

Alice opened the door with a jolly smile, looking very pleased with herself. All I could do was stare. For no discernable reason she seemed to spend a lot of time around the B Brothers. She was confident in the face of dangerous situations...

“Just where did you say you were from, Alice?” I tried to regather the remnants of my wits, pulling the door closed behind me. I took a deep breath. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Just because she was special, it didn’t mean she was the angel. There were many...interesting beings in this world. But if she was…? I had the strong impulse to pull out my angel map.

“Out of town. Pretty far away actually,” Alice replied evenly. But this wasn’t the time for that, so I simply followed her into the warehouse. Soon, we heard muffled voices.

She could be a godling or a demigod. But demigods were rare, and their parents usually went out of their way to keep them messing in mortal affairs. Plus, Alice wasn’t arrogant enough to be a godling.

“I think they’re coming in through the front.” We were just on time.

She could be one of those strange people imbued with powers by a magical being. But that wouldn’t explain her lack of basic knowledge.

Alice nodded. “I think we have a good chance of seeing them if we head up. We can sneak close to overhear them.”

I nodded. It was a solid plan. They were less likely to look up and see us as well. We continued  up the stairs.

She could be a siren. But sirens weren’t known for their speed. And she was too nice to be a siren. Right? As far as I knew, sirens were known for being pretty superficial.

We settled between two sacks just as the group streamed through the doors. As they walked in, I counted them silently. There was Fairfax, the commissioner, Robert and Bill Sykes, the Mayor, Ratigan, Mr. Winky, and a weasel I had seen with Winky. However, when the last one stepped in the room, my jaw dropped.

He had a giant die as a head.

“Stars? There’s a man with a dice for a head.” I couldn’t keep the wonder out of my voice. My mind started to roll again. How was that possible? How does that work? Can he roll his head? Does it come off? How does that mustache grow? Does his head feel like plastic? I wanted to touch it. Does that mean that gambling dice were based off other people like him? Why would a head be numbered? How--

“Shhh.” Alice put a finger to her lips. “Listen and don’t be heard.”

I realized in horror that I had been talking out loud. I had been thrown off too many times today. Oh stars, we were in a dangerous situation, and I was muttering out loud! Alice gave me a patient smile before turning back to the scene.

Once again, I tried to set my mind in order. Below us, the men started to talk. “What are you doing commissioner?” Mayor Medusa started, glaring angrily at the other man. “First the doctor and now these kids? Can’t you get rid of a few pests?”

“Me?” The commissioner put his hand to his chest and then pointed at Medusa. “What about you and that pathetic excuse of a public address? You certainly got a handle on the public, mayor.” He sneered. “Ink Illness is now the biggest thing to hit since moving pictures!”

I grinned. So what had been done was getting to them. They weren’t impervious.

“Well, I think that should go to the slip up of our good editor-in-chief.” Suddenly all eyes were on Robert Sykes. “How could that story get front cover and go unnoticed?”

I put a hand underneath my chin. I frowned. This was just a bunch of arguing. When were they going to talk about more important things?

Robert frowned at Medusa. “Ah, just like you, Medusa, to not take any respons--”

“Gentlemen.” I flinched. The dice man’s voice was cool, collected...unworried. I looked at him, suddenly tense. “We can spend all night pointing fingers at each other and have nothing done. The boss is already in a sour mood. I highly doubt he’ll want to hear that this meeting didn’t go anywhere.”

The commissioner scowled at the dice-man. “Tell that to your damn lacky! I have a circus back at the jail because of his attack! I thought he was a professional! He blasted a star-fallen hole in the wall, left scorch marks everywhere, injured my men and what can I tell the public?” Each accusation was dripping with disgust. I blinked. I had a bad feeling about this. The way he’d spoken to that dice guy…

The dice man smiled maliciously at the commissioner. A wave of cold rushed through me. I gripped the edge of the walkway. What was that!? “Oh, that lacky has been more successful in the past two weeks than you have your entire career. Don’t think for a second that I am not absolutely aware of each one of your failings.” There was a threat within his words.

The commissioner opened his mouth and closed it. “I was under the impression that the Cups would be dealing with the B-Brothers. Now, the B-Brothers are under the protection of the most upright and paranoid cops in the entire city! They screwed up!”

I frowned. Cups again. What did that mean?

“If ya have them locked up, then just shoot them for stars sake!” Medusa snapped. “That little guy is a demon. It should be easy enough to say he attacked someone.” My eyes widened as a sudden sense of anger ran through me. No they wouldn’t! I would talk to the detectives…

“Those detectives are in the way.” I smiled. I was starting to love those girls.

“Then, we’ll kill them.” Bill shrugged. I gulped. This was another problem. (I was also starting to feel a bit bipolar with all my emotional swings.)

“It’s more complicated than that, I’m afraid.” I listened closer. What was it? “That Holly girl you warned us about, Fairfax. I saw her with the detectives. They’re talking.”

I blinked. My heart jumped. That wasn’t good. I’d hoped that he wouldn’t recognize me.

Fairfax put a hand over his face, looking irritated. The dice man suddenly leaned forward, leering over them all dangerously. “They know your faces, gentlemen?”

“Not mine,” said Winky. The weasel shook his head.

“Nor me,” Ratigan added.

For a moment, I was able to let go of my fear long enough to feel a pang of smug pride. Oh yes I did. And I was going to make sure that would become a problem for them.

My gloating was cut off as Fairfax gave a groan. “That little miss has become a pain in the side. She knows my face, and she’s at least suspicious of me. I think she was the little mouse that found her way into my apartment. She’s been snooping.”

I blinked. How? I hadn’t done anything to let him know I’d been near his apartment! I had a flash of memory. My job with Mr. Wiggins. Since it was near his apartment, that must have made him suspicious. I wanted to tear at my hair for a moment. I hadn’t even gotten that job to be near his apartment. It was a complete coincidence!

“She came to my office and was very nervous.” The mayor was speaking now. “I think she wanted to tell me something, but backed off and left instead.” But! I’d given him an excuse.

“Then, she probably has you figured too.” Fairfax’s tone was blunt. Apparently, I was a lot more transparent than I realized. I was grateful that there hadn’t been as much suspicion at the time. I wouldn’t be able to get away with mistakes like those anymore. Also, it was really odd to listen to a group of people talk about you.

The mayor reddened in anger. “But how?” he demanded. “Was it something in your apartment?” I frowned. They were just assuming I’d gotten in now. It was Fairfax’s guess. He didn’t know for sure! “You don’t have our names anywhere?” I raised my brow. If the mayor’s name had been in Fairfax’s apartment, I wouldn’t have been dumb enough to go to his office in the first place.

“No,” Fairfax replied. “That little miss is as good as any newsies or cop I’ve ever seen. She’s up there with those detectives and ol’ Tip.”

Yep. It was weird to listen to people talk about you. Especially when someone you hated gave you a compliment that might result in having killers sent after you.  

The commissioner interrupted my thoughts. “She hid behind her little friend at the station when I approached them. So, she knows something about me at least.” I wanted to facepalm myself. I guess I should have relaxed. I’d given more away than I realized.

“Who is this?” The dice man inquired.

“Holly May, former student from Yen,” I flinched, “and a little snooping mouse.” I scowled. I guess I could give him that.

“And you didn’t take care of her?”

I pressed my lips together. I was as much as I’d expected. “She didn’t seem to know much at first. By the time we decided she was getting too close, she had already disappeared.” Fairfax groaned again.

At that moment, I was very very grateful for my homelessness. Apparently it had saved my life. Who cared about having a house? I enjoyed sleeping outside in the rain! More moisture for my skin. Who needed a bed? Not me! I had a pile of pine needles, and I was very very happy with them. In fact, after all my crazy experiments I would have a human sized _mound_ of them to sleep on. Hahahahahahahahaha!   

“Enough!” I jumped as the dice man yelled, his eyes glowing an eerie, unnatural green. Magical cabbage patches! I tensed, expecting the dice man to make something explode.

Then the dice man blinked, and I let out my breath. He took a let out some air and straightened. “Well, it seems it’s time for me to take some measures here. You lot have done a fine job making a mess here.” He glared at the Sykes brothers.

“Us?” the older Sykes brother protested. “King Dice, we didn’t do this.” King Dice? What was he king of? “I admit that the news story is a problem, but--”

“No Sykes, it’s not a problem. It’s a catastrophe! You and Robby boy here are in charge of this little show. Your dancing monkeys have failed their acts, so it’s on your heads. One more failure and your heads will roll! All of you.”   

Were there other dice people running around? I thought I had studied up on at least the basics of most places but apparently--

“You’re lucky it’s me here and not the boss! I am being nice.” Boss? So the “king” wasn’t the boss? I shivered imagining what sort of person would make this guy “nice” in comparison. “Now listen, and listen good. This here is your last chance, boys. Be happy you’re getting one. The boss doesn’t offer these chances often, but considering the excellent work you’ve done these past years we think it’s just bad circumstances. Besides letting that owl slip, you have all done fantastically,” What? Was this a pep rally? “and been rewarded equally for all your efforts, no?” There were scattered sounds of agreement.

“I heard those Cups even had trouble with the cunning bird,” Ratigan added. I scowled. The _Cups_ had gone after Wilson? I really needed to find out more about these fellows.

“Exactly! See? Just a difficult circumstance. It’s not your fault all of this seems to be happening at once. You just need to focus on fixing it.” Once again. This guy seemed to be a little bit bipolar. One minute he was threatening to take all their heads, the next he was giving them sentiments of encouragement. A pep talk. For. Villains. Oh Stars. “I’ll delegate each of you with a charge and when the next meeting comes, have it done.” I frowned. Okay. This is what I had been waiting for. “Easy as that.” No. It would not be. For either side.

“And if one of us slips again?” Fairfax queried. I glared at him. Good thing he was asking,  because he would.

“Then, that individual will have to pay the price.” I frowned. Just how was this organization organized? I thought back to the pep rally moments. “You two will answer to a representative, whether it’s me or someone else. But remember, you will at least be punished if your team here fails.” He turned back, but something had clicked in my mind. The way they worked together, it felt...almost like a contract job. I finally put my finger on it.

“And the rest of you will answer to the Sykes.” The smile King Dice gave was bone chilling. “They have handled...disappointment in creative enough fashions that the boss doesn’t think he’ll have to get involved.” They weren’t truly invested in this. “It is your boys operation, after all.” Which probably meant I was right. This wasn’t personal for them. They were being hired for this. A strong conviction entered my heart. Which meant they probably didn’t know why it was so important to stop a cure for Ink Illness either.

My eyes flickered to King Dice as the commissioner huffed. King Dice’s eyes flashed green just as I looked at them, and I felt a cold ache flow through my body, making it hard to breathe. “Commissioner, your job is the most straightforward. Kill Dr. Oddswell. Don’t care how, just get it done!”

I would have to learn more about this man to go to the source of this.

“Bu--”

I struggled and took in a deep breath, steadying my nerves. I had no idea how.

“Do it.” Bill cut the commissioner’s complaint short. “Or I’ll take care of him and you.”

Could I follow him after the end of the meeting? The commissioner nodded, looking unsteady.

The idea made me sick. “Good, Fairfax, I will leave you to handle that nosy student girl.”

I glanced at Fairfax and took another calming breath. I was fairly confident that if it was just him I could handle things. He’d never noticed me the entire two months I’d followed him.

“She’s been missing for weeks! So what if the commissioner saw her? She’ll be gone again.” Fairfax threw his hands up.

However, it might be good to move my sleeping place to somewhere new. I’d been pretty active there with all the experiments I had performed. I didn’t want to take any chances.

Then find her, you idiot!” Robert hissed.

A quick thought flashed into my brain. What if I could use Fairfax needing to find me against him? I pondered on the idea. However, since this journal has already been read twice by people I didn’t entirely intend to read it, I won’t mention my plans until the right moment.

After this, King Dice proceeded to hand out assassination assignments like a grocery list. Please excuse how I have listed this. I couldn’t resist the irony.

Robert - In charge of discrediting Ink Illness, killing Xedo

Bill - Finding the doll (the machine part?), tracking down Avery/Alice

Mayor Medusa - Be as annoying as possible to the detectives, attempt to kill them (not

required, but prefered.)

Ratigan - Search Oddswell’s--cough, cough, Granny’s--house

Mr. Winky - Get Bendy and Boris convicted

Cups? - Assassinate Bendy and Boris

At this point King Dice snapped his fingers. A star-fallen _hole_ appeared in the ground _and he jumped into it._ I NEED to know more about this man!!!

As this completely ruined any notion I had of following him, I didn’t have any other ideas. I wanted to search the Sykes’ warehouse a little more, but Bill Sykes stuck around, and Alice (rightfully) didn’t want to risk being discovered.

As we started our drive back to the jail, I pondered how we could handle the information we had received. I already had an idea of how to stick a wrench in Fairfax’s plans. All I needed to do was a write a quick note to every woman he had two timed (especially the rich and powerful ones), and I had a feeling he would end up becoming _very_ distracted. I’ll admit. I may have laughed evilly on the inside when I thought of this. (Alice gave me this look that told me that she was uncomfortable.)

However, at this point, the most time sensitive problem I had to ponder was Winky. I know, he’s not the scariest of the group or the most well connected. However, he was the one that was going to stand in front of court and try to send Bendy and Boris into jail. And from what I’d researched on the man, he would be very good at it. I needed something to prove to the court that Winky was as dirty as they came.

I continued to ponder over this all the way until we arrived at Bendy’s cell. I need to make a quick comment here, however. Do you think it’s strange that an Angel is helping a Demon? I mean, if Alice is an angel...Argh. I’m stuck with far too many questions and not many answers. And from here, in the moment I’m writing this journal, I’ve lost my chance to prove it for sure. That’s something I haven’t told you yet, so let me get back to the then now.

We met with this jail guard and ended up passing around a few puns. That’s when things got interesting.

“So, I’m to assume you are here to torture your boyfriend to death on puns? Good. He got in a bit of trouble this morning. You are just the person to set him straight.”

I frowned and stared at Alice.

“Boyfriend?”

“Trouble?” Alice said at the same moment.

An expression of embarrassment dawned on her face. She didn’t have a chance to answer before the guardsman (Richard?) continued. “I didn’t punish ‘im, since I heard the fella was hasslin’ Bendy. The blockhead deserved the thwack he got for talkin’ about ya that way...especially to the boy!”

Especially to the boy? Boyfriend. The neurons in my brain were firing left and right. At this particular moment my brain thought it would be right to remind me of my suspicions of Alice.

“And boy does that kid have a hook or what! He sent that fella flying! You should have seen it!”

An _Angel_ dating a _Demon_? Something spun in my head. I stared at Alice.

The image of Alice’s embarrassment flashed in my mind. I think I would withhold judgement in this until I had understood (and more importantly saw) more.

“Sounds like Bendy really cares.” I tested to waters and Alice remained awkwardly still.

“Of course,” Richard chuckled. “She’s his gal after all.”

“Be-Bendy’s always been a gentleman.” Alice was definitely shaken. I blinked again. She’d acted this way when I’d pointed out she didn’t know much about the justice system too. Shaken.

“Uh, huh.”

We continued down the hallway talking about the court date tomorrow. When we reached Bendy’s cell he was lying on a bed.

“Bendy.” Alice moved next to the bars. He jumped up quickly to meet her. I considered it for a moment. Well, this scene _was_ shaping up into something I’d expect to see in the moving pictures. Very dramatic--and romantic.

“You’re okay! Did you get it? Is it safe? Is Granny okay? Did Xedo help? What happened?” He didn’t give her a chance to speak. “You’re cold.” He looked up and down her. “You’re soaked! What? Is it raining buckets out there?”

Hmmm.

Alice laughed. These two were really caught up in their own little world. “Nah, that would hurt. It’s just a lot of water. I came by to tell you everything’s fine and everyone’s okay.” Bendy gave a sigh of relief.

I decided that then might be a good moment to pop into their (love?) bubble. I moved closer. “Yeah. I’m sure there would be a lot more clanging outside if it were raining buckets. Not to mention the stock in steel would take a nosedive. It would become so common.” I smiled.

“Thank the sta--” Bendy was half way through his next words before mine registered. He looked at me. “What are you doing here!”

That tweaked a little of annoyance in me. Was there some reason I shouldn’t be here? I let it go and instead opted to be snarky. “Standing.” I looked down. “I think.” I smirked at him.

Bendy frowned. “Aw, you think you’re so funny. Good one. You look like you went through a spin cycle.”

I laughed. “That’s a good one too. I drove Alice here.”

“Ah, then I gotta thank you. I was going nuts in here.” He half smiled.

We continued to talk and eventually got to the topic of the trial. Alice leaned forward towards him. “Bends.”

Bends?

“There’s something else I need to warn you about. The bad guys are on the move. I think they’re trying to trap you here.”

“What do you mean?”  Bendy narrowed his eyes.  

Alice paused, looking to me. I mentally went through the list of things the mobsters had planned. “They’re trying to pin as much evidence as they can on you two in court to keep you in here permanently. They’ve got this dirty lawyer on their side called Mr. Winky. He has a real bad reputation. Once they do that, they’re going to send...Cup assassins?...after you and Boris.” I was still a little frustrated about how little I knew about these ‘cup’ people. “If you know what that means.”

Bendy snorted. “Winky? Really?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “I know, right?”

Alice giggled as well, and I noticed Bendy giving her hand a squeeze and a smile. I raised a brow. Uh huh. “Well, I think we’ll be okay about the lawyer. The detectives did a bang up job getting evidence to prove that Boris and I are innocent.”

I nodded inwardly. Those two were good.

“But what about the assassins? There was an attack on the jail recently, and the detectives thought they were looking for you!” Alice made a good point.

“I-It could have been. If it was him…” Bendy trailed off. A spark of curiosity bloomed within me. The Cups?

“They sounded pretty dangerous,” Alice added.

Bendy frowned. “They are...or were…” I frowned as I watched him. What did that mean? He grimaced, looking down painfully. There was regret in his eyes. “You two don’t need to worry about them.”

He was definitely leaving something out.

“So...you’ve met them before?’ I tried to be considerate about how I asked him.

Nevertheless, he cringed. He seemed to be stuck in his thoughts for a moment. Alice looked worried and then she gently rubbed his hand. It made my heart jump for them. Wow. That was a pretty intimate thing to do.

Bendy flinched and looked up, nearly yanking his hand back. It surprised a snort of laughter from me. Yeah. It was intimate, and he was obviously not used to it. Okay. That answered my question. Whatever was going on here, these two weren’t used to being “together”. I would guess...for some reason Alice needed to pretend to be his girlfriend? I glanced at the guard. Jail “family only” policy?

Bendy finally answered my question. “You..could say the Cups and I have a history.”

Back on a serious subject, I tried to school my face. “Are they really Cups? Or is that just a code word?” I. Wanted. To. Know.

Bendy’s expression was a mix of emotions. Dislike. Resignation. Guilt. “Um...yes and no? How can I explain them? It’s just their heads.” He shrugged.

It’s just their heads.

He said it so matter-of-factly. My mouth dropped and the ramifications started to run through my brain at light speed. “Well...uh.” My mouth felt like it was cotton. What sort of race is made of ceramics? It’s like that dice man. What came first? The person or the cup? Gambling dice or the man? Were the dice people related to the cup people? If so, were the cups as frightening as that dice man? Why had I never heard of either type of race? Why were _Cups_ of all things good assassins? What did that look like? Were their bodies ceramic too? The dice man. Was his body ceramic or plastic or glass? Could I find an ‘item people’ country on a map? Wait. Map…

My head jerked up as I remembered. “Oh. Also, I’d almost forgotten to tell you. I was able to find the right rune combination. All I need to do now is put it on the map.”

Bendy and Alice had been in the middle of laughing. Bendy’s mouth snapped shut and his eyes gleamed with energy and excitement. “Yeah? Th-that’s great! The detectives stashed it for us. You’ll have to bug them for it, but that’s some of the best news I’ve heard since getting locked up in this joint! Thanks Holly!” Bendy smiled. “Boy, Boris will be thrilled to hear this.” I grinned, feeling great. It felt good to be able to help someone with a rune.

“He’ll be here tomorrow?” Alice asked.

Bendy scowled. “He better be,” he muttered. “Are either of you gonna be there?”

“You can bet I’ll be there.”

“I’ll be there, but I don’t know how much help I can be.” Alice sounded uncertain.

“You’ll do fine. Just use that scowl you used on me at the bar.” Bendy winked. Alice proceeded to scowl at him. “Yeah! That one!” She huffed, trying to take her hand back. Once again I tapped my lip. He was being a flirt. The way she reacted still proved they weren’t together, but oh boy, if they could keep it cool, they’d get away with the act, easy!

My mind returned to the thought of the Cup assassins. “So, if their heads are cups, wouldn’t that make them really fragi--”

“Alright, you lovebirds! Wrap it up. Time’s up, and you have to ready for a busy day tomorrow.”

I swear. If people keep on giving me mysterious things like this to ponder, and I keep getting yanked away at the last second, I might…get really frustrated. *Sighs* I’m not very intimidating. That’s a good thing.

“But, I had more questions.” I hated how whiny I sounded, but I couldn’t help mentioning it.

“Ask ‘em when the kid is free. Now, get your goodbyes going. The storm is getting worse, and I don’t want you ladies stuck here for the rest of the day.”

A couple of hooligans cat called from other areas in the hall. Richard tried to quiet them, and we turned to go. I had just noticed the Alice wasn’t behind me when I heard Alice exclaim, “Oh! Wait, I forgot!”

I turned around, stopping. What had she forgotten? I thought we’d covered all we needed to? Bendy took a step closer, and Alice leaned towards his face. She seemed to be saying something, but I couldn’t quite catch it. Bendy leaned even closer. What was going--

Alice pecked Bendy’s cheek and took a quick step back.

My face went red, and I nearly started to laugh when Bendy practically leapt back the length of his cell. That was so embarrassingly...adorable! There was a bright red lipstick mark on his face. His face went dark, dark red.

“Bye-bye for now, Bendy dear,” Alice said in a mocking tone. She walked over to me and after I noticed she was looking at me, I managed to close my hanging jaw.

“Hmmm.” They definitely weren’t dating...yet.

We quickly made our way back to the car through the rain and started to drive back to the police station.

We drove in the car a couple minutes before I managed to get a hold of myself to try and speak with a straight face.

“So, what’s it like dating a demon?”

Alice, who had been sitting next to me with the same smirk she’d had after she kissed Bendy, froze. “Uh? What?”

I raised a brow, fighting the impulse to smile myself. “C’mon Alice, I want to know details.”

“On dating? Have you dated much?” I blinked. At first I thought she might be trying to dodge my question, but the expression on her face was so confused that I dropped the idea.

“No, silly. On dating a demon. Is he a good kisser.” The edges of my lips flickered with mirth as her face suddenly started to transform into an expression of embarrassed horror.

“Wh-wh-what!!” She squeaked. She stared ahead, mouth slightly open in horror. She had...just checked out.

I started to laugh, half trying to lighten the mood, half because I just hadn’t expected her to get that embarrassed.

“Geez, don’t freak out so much, Alice! I was just kidding. So, I’m guessing they only let family see inmates?”

Alice blinked, confused instead of embarrassed now. “How did you figure that out!” she gasped.

The complete ridicule in her voice nearly made me start laughing again. “I don’t know, you two were just a bit stiff with the couple act. But what really gave you away was that kiss.” I snorted a laugh. “There’s no way you’ve ever kissed Bendy before.” I shrugged. “Ultimately, your reaction to my questions proved it. I was just guessing, but then you panicked.” But you could have been, I couldn’t help add in my mind. You definitely have the chemistry.

We talked a bit more after that, but soon we arrived at the police station. To my horror, I found out not soon after that the detectives had decided to go ahead and read my journal _now._ Which meant...they knew everything. Should I burn this thing? But in that moment, I didn’t know what would happen when we went to the warehouse. It was nice to be able to just hand over everything I knew. On the other hand, having this record keeps on biting me in the butt. At this point, I’m not even sure this will be the last time.

If you’re not supposed to be reading this diary (meaning I didn’t expressly give it to you to read), you’d better put your snooping nose elsewhere.

*Sighs* Like that’s going to stop anyone.

We went to the detectives apartment and tried to fix the map. Unfortunately, I realized at that point that if I couldn’t _see_ the runes, it would be far to dangerous to alter them. I have to be honest, with my theory about Alice, I couldn’t help but look at Alice and wonder if she could see it. After all, if she was the angel to give them the map, she should be able to see it, right? In fact, she would have been able to alter the map’s runes herself.

If she is the angel, why didn’t she?

If she is.

I’m a little embarrassed to say that I didn’t have the heart to test it. We were driving back from the detectives when Featherworth offered me her couch. I was surprised--and unsure. I have pride. I didn’t want to take charity. Yet, at the same time the logic in my mind said it would be ridiculous to sleep out in the rain just because I didn’t want to need someone’s help.

In the end, Alice offered me a bed, and I accepted it. However, after arriving at her apartment and talking a while about runes something rather strange happened.

The phone rang. I had been helping clean the table, so at first I hadn’t been too concerned with it. Then I heard Alice say this.

“How did you get this number?” I immediately looked up. Could it be one of the mobsters? Bill Sykes--he was the one looking for her. Avery? Someone from the police department?

A moment later Alice squeaked. “What!” My concern started to grow. Was the person threatening her? What was happening. I went to the window to check for anyone outside while I continued to listen.

“I-I didn’t say I was going back.” Alice sounded weak. I stopped at the window and turned back to her. Didn’t say she was going back? Going back where? If it was someone she knew then why was she so upset?

A moment later she stared at the phone in a daze. After a moment she hung it up slowly.

I moved back to the table and sat down. “What was that about?”

Alice’s face contorted in that expression that was starting to become familiar to me. The one that meant I had hit on something she wasn’t willing to talk about. “Huh? Oh, uuuuh, well.” She looked pained. “Just something I need to take care of.”

An angel summoning?

I blinked at the thought. That was ridiculous. I needed to just prove or disprove that to myself already. “Okay...Anything I can do to help?”

I waited patiently, hoping she might be willing to open up. She pursed her lips. “Do you need a job?”

The words hit me like a ton of bricks and for a moment I just stared at her. “Huh?” A month ago, I would have been weeping with relief. Now however...I felt the concern growing in my stomach. “Yeah...I guess I do.”

Alice nodded, smiling to herself. “How do you feel about working at a shop?”

I tilted my head. Why was she doing this? How? It was random. What did it have to do with the phone call? And where was she pulling this job from thin air? “It depends on the shop, but under my current circumstances, I’m not really picky.”

“You’ll love it,” Alice said quickly, turning back to the phone. Before I could ask another question she was dialing.

“Hi, Betty.” I frowned. There was a pause.

“I’m okay. Listen, I’d hate to ask, but need a favor.” I considered the last call. Could it really be a summoning?

“I have a friend that needs a job.” She stopped and started again quickly. “Give her the spot. It’ll work out.” I frowned, understanding suddenly dawning. _It’ll work out._ Obviously that person hadn’t been one hundred percent okay with what Alice was asking. But, it would work out. Was Alice trying to give me her job? My brows went down.

She was leaving.

Alice hung up, and by the time she turned around my arms were folded. “Alice. What’s going on?” A moment passed with Alice fighting that same look on her face. “Okay. Let’s try a different question. So what was that whole window thing earlier today about?”

Alice shrugged, looking relieved that I was talking about something else. “What do you mean? We needed to get in and the window was open.”

I raised a brow. “You jumped twelve feet out and snagged the edge of the window as you were passing by. That’s not normal.”

Alice blinked in disbelief. “Oh...It isn’t?”

Her expression looked comical, half curious confusion, half dawning worry. ‘No, Alice.” Even if there hadn’t been any finger marks in the wood. She had moved far too quickly.

“Ah, well. My family was very much into self defense and being physically fit. My brothers would probably be horrified with how much I let myself go.” Alice gave a half smile, trying and failing to look confident.

A stab of guilt went through me. She was sitting here, trying to help me so much, and yet I was grilling her like she’d done something wrong. She hadn’t. Angel or not. I was letting my curiosity control me.

I sighed. I needed to let this go for now. “Well, I suppose it’s none of my business if you don’t want to tell me the truth. You really have been kind to me. I don’t want to be rude or put you in an awkward position. Just, if there is anything I can do to help you in return, please tell me.” I would wait until a better time to ask my most burning question. If I got another chance.

“I’m going to go to bed, if that’s okay.” I paused. There was one thing I couldn’t let go, though. “But you should know...when you were opening the door, I took a look at the window, and you left finger marks on the wood frame.”

Alice’s jaw dropped. “I-I didn’t lie! It’s true and--and--! Wait...I left finger marks?” She looked down at her hands in amazement. The edge of my lips twitched. She smiled, closing and opening her hands. “Maybe, I haven’t lost all my strength after all!”

I gave a quick bark of a laugh. “Geez, Alice. You’re not making it easy for me to not ask questions!”

Alice smiled at me. “Sorry. Thank you for being considerate.” I shoved my hands in my nightgown pockets. This was taking all my self control… “I’d hate to feel cornered after all. Wouldn’t want to frame myself in a bad image.” She winked.

I raised a brow. Oh, so she wanted to start one of those. “You’re certainly pulling me through a complex picture.”

Alice grinned. “Hopefully, I’ll get to explain myself soon.” I took note of the fact that she was saying ‘soon’ rather than ‘tomorrow’ or at some other specific time. “Sorry to act all mysterious, especially after such a long day.”

I shrugged. “I’ve faced far more difficult challenges.” (Like pondering endlessly how a _cup_ can be dangerous.) “I shall remain strong as I restrain my natural curiosity.”

Alice laughed. “You do that. Good night, Holly.”

“Good night, Alice.”

I went to bed in Alice’s extra room and fell asleep almost immediately after that. I was too tired to write, too tired to think. And, just as I suspected, when I woke this morning, Alice was gone.


	53. October 21, Friday - The Trial (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Alice disappears, Holly reads her note, and Xedo, Wiston and Holly go to witness Bendy and Boris' trial.

When I woke this morning, I was alone in Alice’s apartment. I found three letters on a table in the living room. For a moment I stood in front of them, staring.

Angel summoning.

I slapped my face lightly. Stop it.

I peered down and noticed that each letter had a name on it. One said ‘Bendy and Boris’. The second said ‘Betty’. The last had my name on it. I picked that one up and opened it. It read,

_Dear Holly,_

_Sorry to disappear on you. Something came up, and I have to take care of it. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. If it isn’t too much trouble, could you keep the apartment for me? And the job at Betty’s? When I come back, we can be roommates! I’ll find another job, but for now I hope you can hold down the fort. Sorry to leave at such an important time. Could you tell Bendy and Boris I’m sorry? Give them that letter? The letter to Betty will explain a few things for your new employer. She is really sweet, and I think you two will get along swimmingly._

_The apartment contract and the map are hidden in my closet on the top shelf. I already put your name on the lease and talked to the landlord. The bill is due at the end of the month, and I already have it half paid._

_I hope the trial goes well. I’m not going to pretend I completely understand how this system works. If they aren’t freed, you might find me doing something foolish. Hopefully not._

_I hope to see you again soon, Holly. Thanks for all the help yesterday. You and I make a good team, don’t you think?_

_-Alice_

I folded the letter back up. Yeah, we did. I felt pang of loneliness, then worry. On the back was ‘Betty’s’ address and the times that work started. Once again, I wondered what might be so important to draw her away on the day of the trial. If they weren’t freed, I might help her do something foolish.

I ran my hand through my hair. The apartment? A job? That girl...A quiet chuckle escaped me as I sat down in an armchair. She was just too kind. 

Standing up again, I made my way to Alice’s room and the closet. I pulled out the map and spent a couple more minutes looking at it. Finding absolutely nothing that I hadn’t found before, I placed the map inside this book, carefully replacing both under my shirt when I finished writing about yesterday. At that point, it was an hour before the trial was supposed to start.

I realized as I started to prepare to leave that it felt sort of strange--and empty--to be in an apartment all by myself. I’d never lived alone. I’d moved to Toon Town from home, and then I’d had Shelly. It was funny how even sleeping outside, I’d felt close to people.

As I picked up the other two letters and put them in my bag, I shook off the feeling. I’d only spent a day with the girl, and I already missed her. I was being ungrateful. I had to focus on the important things. I now had a home and a job? That was...strange. And the trial was starting.

Now that I had a place to live, I didn’t feel as nervous about spending my emergency cash. I took a cab to Xedo’s house and arrived there roughly forty-five minutes before the trial's start. I knocked on the door.  

Wiston pulled it open with a sour look. It changed when he saw me. “Oh, Holly. Hi.”

“Is that Miss May?” Xedo called from inside.

“Yeah!” Wiston called back. He stepped aside to let me in. Xedo was in the living room adjusting a tie. Snowball was nibbling on a crust of bread on the coffee table.

“We’re just about ready to leave,” Xedo said. The fox turned around. “Have you heard from Alice? I thought she would be joining us too. The trial is about to begin, after all!”

I opened my mouth and closed it. “She’s not coming. Unfortunately, something came up last night, and she left. I’m not sure what it was, but it was important enough for her to sneak out while I was sleeping.”

A little crease appeared between Xedo’s brows. “Sneak out?” He paused in grabbing his bag and looked at me. “Is she okay? Do you know where she went?” Wiston paused too at his brother’s concerned tone.

“I don’t know. She left me a letter, but didn’t say anything about where she was going.” I paused, considering. “But I don’t think she was very happy to leave. She got a phone call. That’s when she started to act strange. She didn’t sound pleased with whoever she was on the phone with.”  

Xedo’s concern became thoughtful. “Alice...is a very independent woman. She doesn’t like to trouble others. If she didn’t tell you where she went, the chance she is in trouble could be very real.” Wiston blinked in surprise. Xedo grabbed his bag. “The timing is terrible. Right now Bendy and Boris need our support. Still, I believe we should try to find out where she went as soon as possible. It’s dangerous for everyone involved with this case right now.”

I nodded. That had been my reasoning too. As the foxes grabbed the last of their things, I went inside and picked up Snowball, checking her thoroughly. She squeaked at me happily and when I pulled out a worm I’d found for her on the way, she gobbled it up. Carefully, I put her inside my pocket. She curled up and started to snooze.    

The foxes started for the door. Wiston tilted his head. “Do you think the bad guys got to her?”

“No, I think she would have warned us if they were involved. It’s probably something unrelated, but it’s suspicious that she didn’t say where she went and that she snuck away. She may need help and doesn’t want to bother any of us with it.” He shrugged. “Or it’s personal, but again, why sneak away?”

The three of us left the apartment and hailed a cab to the courthouse. A few minutes later, we arrived. The place was packed to the brim with people. Outside, a crowd of newsies were shouting questions at officials (and anyone who would stop). We quickly slipped inside and took seats on the right side of the court house.

I had been pondering Winky since I remembered about court this morning. I felt a sense of failure that I hadn’t been able to figure out any way as of yet to discredit him here. However, I wasn’t entirely certain whether that mattered. If they didn’t have Winky, they would just find another lawyer. What we needed to do was put up a good fight in court. And in that sense, things were completely out of my hands. All I could do from now until the end was sit and watch.

Court started.

Wiston fidgeted next to me as Xedo wrote a mile a minute, muttering to himself quietly every once in a while.

The beginning arguments were interesting. A pig policeman from (Sillyvision?) sat on the stand and talked about a fire and Wilson’s death. There were a lot of things I learned there that I hadn’t known before. Bendy was Boris’ legal guardian? They had both been orphans?

I thought about what I knew of Demon lore. As far as I was aware, there had never been a case of a demon child. Demons had pretended to be children to mess with people, sure, but as far as I knew there had never been a recorded case of anyone meeting an actual demon child. They just seemed to...appear...from where ever demons came from. How did Bendy show up in that town?

I watched Winky for a few minutes, studying the way he acted. The entire time that Snoutfer brought up point after point of Bendy’s innocence, he continued to stand there smiling. It was a bit creepy. Unconsciously, I felt myself getting tense. He definitely had something up his sleeve.

Then, it happened. Winky pointed out that the evidence had been tampered with, and in doing so completely discredited the entire Sillyvision argument.

I felt myself slouch in my seat, getting sweaty. That...He’d… This man was tricky. Although, I had to admit that if I were in his shoes, I probably would have used the same tactic. It was smart. It was justifiable. Even if you knew that all the evidence was valid, you couldn’t fight the logic that the evidence couldn’t be trusted after the tampering.

The defense called the next witness.

Her name was Sasha Swingskirt.

Well, apparently all the characters those boys are involved with are interesting because the moment she walked up to the front of the court she hugged them--and immediately proceeded to yell at them. It made me smile a bit, and take hope. With people like this girl behind them, the court would see that Bendy and Boris were good kids. That they were people, real people, not something dangerous that the newspapers had made them out to be.  

After a minute, the judge (an interestingly fickle man) brought her back to the present and the boy’s lawyer, Mr. White Rabbit questioned her. It was mostly about their whereabouts during the accident and fire. Then, their character. I took a breath. At least this part seemed to be going smoothly.

Although, I have to admit when the White Rabbit brought up Mr. Wiseton, I lost a touch of self control...In her own words Sasha said, “By what I understand, Mr. Wiseton was a paranoid individual--”

I might have grown a little bit indignant at that moment and shouted, “With good reason!!”

The people nearby looked at me with scandalized expressions. Xedo wore such a look. Wiston, on the other hand, looked like he was trying not to burst with laughter. “Holy cow! That was awesome.” That made me feel a little better. At least before Xedo gently thumped him on the head.  

I quietly lowered my own, feeling guilty.

Then, the prosecution started their questions. At this particular moment, I got the distinct impression that someone was metaphorically (or in their head) starting to laugh evilly here because the tone in the room completely changed (again).

Winky started to ask this Sasha girl some very personal questions.

Wiston continued to fidget, and I eyed him. Was it getting worse?

‘Why did you move to Sillyvision?’

‘How did you get the money to start your club?’

It went on. I looked at the judge. I looked at the White Rabbit. Why weren’t they trying to stop this? These questions were irrelevant to the case and completely inappropriate!

Finally, Judge Hearts commented on Winky’s line of questioning.

At first, I thought Winky was going to get put in his place, but then the most unimaginable thing happened. Winky proved Sasha had ties to the mafia. I gaped. My head spun with potential ramifications. Well, this wasn’t good.

With each word that came out of Winky’s mouth, I felt my anger continue to grow. Was he serious? The fact that she had to flee an abusive relationship was proof she was the boy’s ‘connection’ to the mob? I looked at the judge again. Why wasn’t he stopping this? This was badgering the witness. She was in tears!

That’s when Bendy lost it.

He bolted up towards Winky with what only could be interpreted as violent intentions.

“You’ve said enough! Who the hell are you to drag out all this dirty laundry against her! Sasha is innocent. She hasn’t done anything! You spew one more starfallen lie out of that crooked smile of yours, and I’ll knock that mustache right off!” Boris barely managed to grab his shoulder and stop him from leaving the stand. My heart jumped in fear as I saw his eyes flash red.  

Yen Sid help me! It was color! What were his eyes doing with color! I nearly fell off the bench I was sitting on. Just what was this demon?  

Did that mean he was a magical creature? Was there something special about his eyes? Did all demons have that ability or was it just him?

My thoughts were cut off when the shadows around him started to move. My jaw dropped. They looked too dark to be real. It was like they were physical. Like they were actually there. It was terrifying.

They shifted around him in a mass of black tentacles. It was eerie because they didn't move with him, but followed before and after. Like an echo. Like an animal that was wrapped around him. I don’t know how to describe it! Boris didn’t seem too freaked out by it as he hung on the Bendy’s shoulder. (When I say this, I mean in comparison. He still looked scared.) Their lawyer seemed to flinch in fear. He looked terrified at first, but pulled himself together. In what I can only describe as professional strength, he grabbed Bendy’s other shoulder and started talking to him.

Winky smiled at them, and I realized that what he’d been doing had a double purpose. He'd been trying to discredit this woman, and goad Bendy into an altercation. “Is that a threat, young demon?”

I nearly rose in my own seat. No. Bendy. She could handle it. I looked at her. Right? She sniffed and pulled herself together with a glare. “Bendy! I’m alright.”

Bendy almost continued anyways, but after a little more convincing, he finally sat down. I let out a breath, continuing to stare at the shadows fearfully until they stopped. Thank Yen Sid. I felt the energy go out of me and slumped down on my seat. Oh Bendy.

Thankfully, after this the judge pushed Winky to move onto the next witnesses. It was Featherworth and Ringtail.

Ringtail started. She was very straight forward. She explained how they had been put on Wilson Wiseton’s case at the time of the murders here in Toon Town and how she and Featherworth followed him across the country. They would lose him, and then refind him. It made me feel a little proud for Wilson. He was so clever. Unfortunately though, there was a string of dead behind him too. They had been sure he was a serial killer, but as time went on things became...questionable.

Ringtail quickly focused on Sillyvision and Mr. Wiseton’s accident. They had been very disappointed when he had passed.

I have to admit. When she mentioned how Wilson died, it made me pretty depressed. From what she described, Wilson had gone through a lot of hardship and difficulty in those months previous as he had ran from his murder charges. Life had been hard up until the moment he died. I remembered the little clip I had seen on the tv of him once. He’d been so cheerful, talking about an artifact he’d found, what it meant for the world. He was always so positive in his books. It just seemed so unfair that such a good bird had lived the last of his month that way. I felt a pang of anger. I wanted to find out who did that to him.

Ringtail expressed her doubts about him being guilty. Then, she moved on to Bendy and Boris. She explained their light criminal record and how, after they had seen the structure of the town’s system, she and Featherworth had found them clean of their crimes.

She was straight forward and to the point about their evidence and interviews. She mentioned a fox and cat in Warnerburg that helped the brothers with the break in and discovery of the underground theft ring.

When she came to Toon Town, she explained Oddswell a bit. How he was an odd individual, but caring in his own way. How he explained Ink Illness. I smiled when she said that. I still wasn’t one hundred percent comfortable with the idea of him working on a cure, but I knew what she said was true. Oddswell did care in his own strange way.

“Had you heard about it (Ink Illness) before?” Mr. Rabbit asked.

“Bendy had mentioned it to my partner once. There were others that had interactions with Wiseton too, but that was the first time I got a full explanation.”

“Do you think it’s real?” Mr. Rabbit said.

“To be blunt, yes. I haven’t seen someone act so desperate as Wilson, or the B-bros, or Oddswell and his assistant. They were fighting something with every fiber of their being. Giving up jobs, friends, family, and their social standing. Who would do that for something that isn’t real?” Ringtail stated. We really had so many good people on our side. My smile widened. There really were good people in the world, despite the bad.

She went on to explain that they caught the brothers when following a lead about the Ink Illness news article. She clarified that the brothers weren’t the ones to write the article, and she doubted the ties to the mob. There wasn’t any evidence for that.

When Winky stood again, the atmosphere in the room changed. It was sinister. He first went after their evidence and how the detectives had become emotionally involved. That it was blinding them to the work they were doing. That Ringtail was too empathetic. He brought in her history as a troubled youth that stole for the thrill. He even brought in her family history. Something about her mother’s maiden name being ‘Cooper’ and how that family had a criminal history that went back generations.

Ringtail grit her teeth through it all. She had fluffed up to twice her size in anger. She explained in a slightly shaky voice about her youthful days. What made her want to change and become a cop. An old dog of a detective that set her straight. How she was professional and all the accomplishments she and her partner had in the last few years.

Winky did his best to throw in doubt before they were done. Ringtail was able to hold her temper...just barely it seemed. She did snap at him once.

Then, they switched to Featherworth. She remained cool and collected. She affirmed most everything her partner said. She added a few of her own suspicions and discoveries of the case. Nothing too different. She was bold enough to question the authority figures she had to work under when Winky began hounding her work on the case. It seemed every question she tied back to the commissioner or the mayor. I couIdn’t help but grin. Featheworth was amazing. It warmed my heart that some progress was being made in that area. At each of these moments, I noticed that Winky pulled back from those questions quickly. Featherworth smile indicated that it was a victory for us.

He didn’t have much on her character. He just accused her of being a social outcast. She, again, was cool and collected. She admitted that a few of her cousins had voiced doubts about her career choice. That a woman, especially a crow, wouldn’t be taken seriously on the streets or by the other cops. She simply said, “Then let my work speak for itself.”

She was the bees-knees.

I started to chuckle to myself.

“The Prosecution calls Holly May to the witness stand.” I blinked and looked up. _What?!?_

There was silence for about ten seconds.

“Holly May?” Winky repeated, looking out into the crowd.

I gulped, frowning. I looked at Xedo. He appeared just as alarmed and surprised as I was.

“Did you know he was going to do that?” Xedo asked.

I shook my head. He narrowed his eyes and frowned. “What should she do?” Wiston asked.

“Well, I can’t just ignore him,” I said in a low voice. I started to stand.

“Be careful,” Wiston whispered.

I nodded at Wiston, grateful for the sentiment. But my heart was pounding.

I stood up slowly, my heart in my throat. I would have to be careful. The more I’d seen of Winky, the more I realized that this man was someone who never did something for one reason. He would probably try and discredit me like he had with Sasha. But why even bring me up? I frowned as I slowly made my way through the crowd, the sensation of a hundred eyes on me making me sweat and my stomach twist. There was simply no benefit to calling me up to the stand. I’d only met the boys two...three times. As far as they knew, we’d only met once. This had to be about something else.

I exchanged a glance with Bendy as I passed the stand. He was frowning hard, looking worried and confused. I took a deep breath. I needed to figure this out, and figure it out quickly. I was sworn in and soon I found myself sitting in the hot chair.

Winky asked his first question. “Miss May. What interaction have you had with the defendants?”

I forced myself not to answer immediately. I needed to calm down and think clearly. Instead, I studied Winky’s smirk for a moment and allowed my eyes to scan the crowd. I took strength from Wiston’s intense gaze and the mad scribbling of Xedo’s pen. Then, I answered. “I met them both when they asked for directions at the college.”

“Directions to where?” he replied, looking at me intently.

The panic was settling now. Instead of feeling complete stupor of thought, I only felt the pressure of eyes. I could think. I rearranged my hands, pondering. What was their perspective? Winky had to ruin Bendy and Boris. I couldn’t do that for them.

“To the house of Dr. Ryan Oddswell.”

Mr. Winky seemed carefree, pretty much cheerful as he asked his next question. “And you gave them the address?”

Actually, wasn’t he a little bit too cheerful? I mean, he’d been pretty much a very creepy brand of happy this entire time, but for a moment there I’d seen a glint of triumph in his eyes.

I smiled politely back at him, trying to keep my nerves. “Yes. I did.” Why?

“According to the services of the college, you broke policy doing that. Were you aware of this rule when you told them the address?” He pulled the corner of his mustache casually.

A pang of annoyance ran through me. Really? Bringing this up again? What did it matter to him? Obviously, it had nothing to do with the case. I stared at him. It seemed to me that was the theme here. I had almost nothing to do with the case. So, maybe their reasoning for bringing me up here had nothing to do with the case either. “Yes, I was aware. Are you aware, Mr. Winky, that I already was disciplined for making that mistake?” I glared at the judge, who had been leaning on his hand with an amused expression. “I fail to see how my losing my job at the school is relevant to this case.”

Winky continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “Did you know about the brothers and that they were wanted criminals at the time?”

I had to force down a flash of anger. No. I was used to being ignored. It was fine. I could control myself and turn this around. If this didn’t have to do with the trial, what did it have to do with?

I leaned forward. “No. I hadn’t heard of them until afterwards, when the issue was brought up. My former roommate can testify to it.”

Winky nodded in disinterest, wandering away until he was turned toward the jury. Now that I was up here, he was almost bored. He spoke again, something about me researching the boys after getting fired, but I didn’t really listen because my brain had started to move.

Now that I was here...He was bored. They had met at the warehouse to find a way to deal with all of us. Me being up here wasn’t about the trial. 

It clicked. I quickly glanced at the crowd, searching. It took a moment, but then I found him. There he was, leaning against the back door with a small, self-satisfied, smug smile. Fairfax.

I gripped the edges of my chair. They’d called me up so that Fairfax could find me.

I opened my mouth, speaking distantly to keep from acting strange. “If you mean ordering a few newspaper articles from Sillyvision and Warnerburg, that’s hardly extensive. I don’t deny being curious. I did lose my job because of them.”

Winky seemed a little disappointed at my response. “Well no, but you also were looking into Dr. Oddswell. You were a student of his, weren’t you?”

I shrugged, trying to fight the rising panic. “For a short time.” What exactly would Fairfax try? “He was fired halfway through the semester. My curiosity, with him, however, was because he was the person the boys were looking for.”

When the trial was over, should I try and leave through a side door? The memory of my joke journal entry came to mind. Go out a side door into a mostly deserted alley? Not a good idea, unless I really wanted to live that. “Funny, the news implied that you were interested in his research,” Winky commented.

That snapped me out of my thoughts. What? The news? I looked at Winky. No. I needed to keep my head clear. There was still a game being played here. “Well, as I’m sure everyone has realized, the news isn’t reliable at this point.”

Take that Fairfax.

“It seems a lot of things aren’t. You had to face a lot of difficulty since that time at the college.” Mr. Winky sighed. “You were harassed for helping them. There were rumors that you used magic and worked with them in the mob. Your roommate claimed cruel messages were left on your door nearly every day.”

My roommate. They hadn’t gone to see Shelly, had they?! I took a deep breath. Shelly was fine. I laughed inwardly. I was the one who had to figure this out. What could I do about this situation? Honestly, I should have seen this coming. The court was the best place for the mob to get all their targets.

I frowned, and Winky didn’t have the right to talk about my struggles like he was a sympathizer. “Once again, none of this seems to pertain to the trial at all. I resent that my personal life is being infringed upon to humor a lawyer that made one of his witnesses cry. I won’t be answering any more questions until they are.” I folded my arms. The first thing I wanted to do was get off this stand, then I could think a bit more clearly. They couldn’t keep me here if Winky ran out of meaningless questions to ask me. “Although, for a lawyer you seem to know an awful lot about the mob.”

Winky seemed to miss my jab at him. “Personal life?” He raised a brow. I continued to think. If Fairfax was going to follow me from here, what could I do about it? “Is that what had you leave your home and live on the streets? Or is it possible that it has to do with the work you were doing? With those magic runes?”

I frowned. Oh, so now he was going to use my love of runes to attack me?

“Objection!” Thankfully, Mr. Rabbit interfered. “He is leading the witness.” I gave an inward sigh. I didn’t really want to explain runes in front of an entire crowd. What if I stuttered?

The judge sighed. “I think we all know where this goes.”

Mr. Winky frowned. As he took a moment to readjust himself, I looked around. I scanned the area around Fairfax to see if there were any other familiar faces. No. Not that I could see. At this point, my best strategy might be to stay in well populated areas. A thought struck me. It was the same one I had yesterday in the car with Alice. If Fairfax was going to follow me, what if I could lure him into a rune trap? If it he was, for example, caught in the middle of breaking into Alice's apartment, it would prove his guilt. And maybe I could gather some information from him.

Winky straightened and turned back to me. “Miss May, what are your intentions with your runes?”

I raised my brow. This questioning needed to be done. “If you’ll explain how this is relevant, I’ll answer the question.”

Winky tilted his head inquisitively. “Is it possible for runes to cause sickness or at least the appearance of illness?”

What? The question hit me like a bullet to the heart and for a moment all I could do was sit there and stare at him. I opened my mouth and closed it. “I see what you mean.” My heart was beating fast. I wanted to instantly snap back at him that it wasn’t possible. But honestly, I wasn't sure. Could it? The question destroyed a sense of stability that I’d had about what Ink Illness was. I thought of Wilson. If it were possible, someone like Wilson definitely would be the person capable of starting it. “Yes. It would be possible to mimic the symptoms of being sick with runes.”

Breath in. Breath out.

Wait.

Wait a minute.

Runes. The essence of a rune was that it was flexible but was limited in power. No. It wasn’t possible to mimic this illness...at least not on the scale that Ink Illness was at. “However, there is a limit to it. Every single person with the,” I made quotes in the air, “symptoms would have to have a rune written on them.” I was gaining momentum now. “That’s how runes work. They are direct. So, if you are implying that I used my knowledge of runes to fabricate the boy’s claims, I’m afraid you’ll have to look for another excuse. Even if that were the case, I’d never met the boys before I gave them directions. We have no connection to speak of.”

“None that the public know of.” Winky’s mustache twitched. “Just like how the public was unaware of this ‘Ink Illness’ until recently” He grinned fiendishly. “For an ‘epidemic’, it sure has remained quiet.” He turned to the room as if they were all at the theater, and he was the starring actor. I scowled. “I mean, a killer disease that only shows symptoms for a few minutes? Otherwise the sick are perfectly normal? Mighty convenient. And it happens how often in most cases? A couple times a month, maybe?” Winky clicked his tongue patronizingly. “Sounds like a scam to me. The chance of a doctor being on hand to witness an attack would be so rare, right?”

I sat there listening for a moment when it hit me that he was talking as if _he_ knew exactly how runes worked. I considered for a moment whether he might be Fairfax’s contact who’d undone my runes before.

“And I’m sure the limits of the runes could be covered.” Winky grinned at Bendy. “By certain abilities that Mr. Bendy possesses as a demon.” I suddenly noticed the expression on Bendy’s face. His eyes were narrowed and his fists were clenched. He looked like he wanted to burst. “After all, demons have always had an array of powers to affect others.”

A chill ran through me as I continued to watch Bendy. I didn’t want him to lose his temper again. I frowned at Winky. And no. There wasn’t a high chance he was the one because some of these questions he was asking were just dumb dora.

I folded my arms. “Not world wide. Do you happen to be a rune expert, counselor?”

“No.” Winky looked amused. “But you are?”

I frowned. Oh, so he could crow all he liked about how runes _might_ work, but when I mentioned that I _knew_ how they worked, I was socially unacceptable, was I? “My major is,” Ouch. “...Was...ancient civilizations and languages.” I swallowed. I wasn’t going to beat around the bush. There was _nothing_ wrong with runes. “So, yes. I have done extensive studies on runes.”

“Do you have to be the one to activate the rune?”

He was definitely trying to find a loophole to exploit. “If my essence is the one fueling the working, yes.”

“And what about someone like a demon? Or a ghost? Or even an angel?” His cheerfulness continued.

I wasn’t going to give him one. “Demons and ghosts don’t need runes to perform workings. Angels use them, but theirs are far more complicated and only angels can use them.” That was the truth, and I wasn’t going to let him twist that. That was an advantage of being one of a small number of people who knew how these things worked.

“You can make contracts to use them as energy sources though? A demon could use a rune in theory?” I blinked, surprised. The seedy man actually sounded a bit genuinely curious. He probably thought the idea was really convenient.

I pressed my lips together. No. It wasn’t. “What you are describing is called being a witch. Something which I consider to be very dangerous because it always results in a severe consequence to the contractee. If I were to make a contract with a demon or other being of power, I wouldn’t need to use runes either.” That was ignoring the obvious alternate option. If a person were to contract with a sufficiently strong being they _would_ be able to fabricate the symptoms in many people. It would even explain why Ink Illness wasn’t more widespread, because even a strong being couldn’t create enough magic to make a truly raging epidemic. A smaller one was in reach, however. And they wouldn’t need to put a rune on each individual person. So. It was possible to fabricate the symptoms of Ink Illness on a grand scale as a witch. I sat on this piece of information with distaste. I wouldn’t say it. I wouldn’t give him fodder. I was no witch. I thought of Steven. The witch would have to kill people as well. It set a horrible ache into my belly. It was an unanswered question. The sickness was so strange. Could it? Could it be a witches doing? It was not possible with runes though. There just wasn’t enough power.

“But a being of power could get a rune from someone like you and use it? Or even write their own, yes?” Winky was being persistent. I frowned. What he’d just tried to say didn’t even make any sense. Irritation ran through me.

“They wouldn’t need to.” Because they could probably do ten times what a rune user could!

Winky continued on as if he _were_ an expert. “To do things that would normally be odd for their powers they would.” I felt an overwhelming urge to groan. No! In any circumstance it would be useless for them! “Or not. Like I said, I am not the expert. You are. So, would it be possible that Bendy could cause the symptoms for Ink Illness?”

The crease between my eyebrows felt like it was going to become permanent. “Do you even understand what you’re talking about? Being a magical creature like a demon is a completely different field of power than using runes. They aren’t comparable.” I bit my lip. Because someone with his powers could do much, much more.

“Why not?”

At this point, I felt like I was hitting my head against a brick wall. I felt like I was the dumb one. Okay. I would have to make this very clear. “Demons have an unlimited internal energy source that they use for their magic. In addition to this, they can shape it directly. Humans can’t. We need runes or other things to shape our energies. Also, the energy we have is very limited in comparison. That’s why we need to use runes, spells or make a contract to be able to access it.”

“So he couldn’t do it himself...He’d need help.” Nope. Still beating my head against a wall.

It seemed that Judge Hearts was feeling the same way, because he interrupted Winky’s questioning. “Mr. Winky, please. Get to the point. I am expected home for dinner tonight and the Mrs. does not like to be kept waiting. Heads will roll.” A chill went down my spine when the king laughed lightly afterwards. I had no doubt that was true, considering the Queen of Heart’s reputation. It would be best to move on.

“What I’m saying,” I took a deep breath, “Is that no one could do magic this widespread unless they had direct contact with each of the people showing symptoms. Sure, it might be possible with a lot of power. A human certainly couldn’t do it alone. But the amount of power one has only matters if that condition is met.”

“But is it wide spread? The only people that have claimed to have the illness have been here in Toon Town. Sure, a few foreigners that have been visiting also claim to be sick, but it’s still here. There is only one documented case of it in a local hospital here. Everything else has been word of mouth.”

I raised a brow. A moment ago he wouldn’t even admit that there were _any_ documented cases. “I’ve personally met at least twenty people with ink illness, sir. They’re everywhere, the only reason ‘no one knows’ is because they’ve been shoved to the side. I discovered them by looking into less reputable newspapers that print conspiracy theories. Those are the _only_ people listening.”

“Ah, and you already pointed out how reliable news outlets have been.” I took in a deep breath. Wall. Head. That entirely missed the point I was trying to make.

“My point isn’t about the newspaper. My point is that I’ve met these people.”

“Miss May, have you actually seen someone have one of these attacks?” Winky sneered.

I stopped. This is where I couldn’t argue him down. I’d seen Steven’s casket, but I hadn’t seen him pass. I’d met people with the right symptoms, but not while they’d had them. “I’ve seen the remains of someone suffering from the illness. The newspaper claimed it was a locked room murder, but when I went inside the room, there was a puddle of ink on the bed. That was all that was left.” I felt a deep sick feeling in my stomach. I had almost thought it was blood. But it had been black...and there was so much…

“A puddle.” Winky’s tone surprised me out of my thoughts. “What kind of sickness turns a person into a puddle of ink?” I stared at him. Would his disrespect know no end? “No wonder doctors have been having such a difficult time--”

“Shut up.” There was a hiss from behind Winky, and my eyes suddenly went behind him. Boris stood up, eyes wide.

Bendy tried to interrupt, but Boris continued. “Just shut up! People have died! You don’t talk about them like that!” He stood up, clutching the banister to the point that I was afraid it was going to crack. My jaw dropped. Wow. I’d never seen such an intense look in the wolf’s eyes. “They suffer! I-It’s terrible to see. So don’t. Pl-please.” I felt a pang of sympathy as I saw the trembling running up and down his body.

Bendy reached forward carefully, taking his brother’s arm with care. “It’s okay.” Gently, he guided his younger brother back to his seat, rubbing his arm comfortingly. Still, I could tell he was tense. There were creases at the edges on his face and distraction in his eyes.

“Your opinion on Ink Illness is irrelevant here, Mr. Winky.” I sat up a little in my chair. No. I wasn’t going to let him take a swing at Boris. At least not here, not yet. “Despite what your rather large ego says, we’re not here to listen to you ramble on for no reason. We’re here to discuss facts. And if you want facts, I can list each and every single person I’ve met who has ink illness.”

Winky only gave me a cursory glance. “That won’t be necessary. Prosecution rests.” I blinked. Wait. What? Winky was back in his chair before I could even understand fully that he was finished.

The judge looked at the White Rabbit. “Does the defense have any questions?”

“Uuuh. N-no your honor.”

“Then you may leave, Miss May.” I opened and closed my mouth and nodded. As I got up from my seat, I had a thought. I knew that the mobsters were coming after all of us. I glanced at Xedo on the right side of the room. It wouldn’t be smart to make it easier for them to find us. After a split second decision, I moved to the left side of the room. There was a seat back there that was a little closer to the door. After I got situated, they called the next witnesses.

The Warners.

They were fascinating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What. A beautiful...well, it's a mess really. A starfallen mess. Tap here! And boy Mercowe struggled with this court as much as I did!...I still blame Winky. He is the worst. XP Anyway! I hope Holly gets through all this madness and meets up with the boys soon! They need her help!
> 
> Or the Warners will kidnap her. That's always a possibility...Hope not. Those four together could destroy the world frankly. They...have actually gotten closer to ending the world than everyone realizes...and that was apart!
> 
> Mercowe: O_O !


	54. October 21, Friday - The Trial (Part Two)

The White Rabbit called them Yakko, Wakko and Dot to be precise.

When their names were called, I looked to the crowd, where most of the witnesses had been called from. But these three weren’t there. They just seemed to appear from nowhere. Dot was next to Bendy, hugging him while he tried to pry her off with a disgruntled look. I was flabbergasted. How had she gotten next to him? She made kissing noises at him in response. That surprised me, and I almost snickered. The more I got to know this Bendy, the more I realized his cool guy shtick was very much an act.

As this scene continued to unfold, I came to realize moment after moment that most of what the Warners did made no sense, but then again made sense. They are an oxymoron. Their actions are pure chaos. Their intentions (at least from what I can guess) are human? They are philosophy at its core. They reminded me a little bit of my hometown in the way they would take perfectly normal, sensible things and completely twist these things on their head.

Like the oats--oh oaths.

They talked around getting sworn in because they made a complete joke of it. I’ve been assuming for most of this record, reader, that you’ve probably heard of this trial, read about it, maybe even was there, so I won’t bore you with the specifics of everything that happened, but only the important points.

What truly fascinates me about them is not only that they seem to have incredible powers, but they also can mislead people simply by the way they completely talk around them.

Although, I have to admit, I was a little confused when the sister said she was Bendy’s girlfriend. She looked to barely be in her preteens.

I want to share all my thoughts about them, but honestly there are so many different questions I have about them spinning in my head. Can one summarize information on these type of people? I’m not sure it’s possible, so I’m going to go straight to the point.

I like them.

I like them a lot.

This next thought fills me with a little shame, but I have to admit this somewhere. Maybe people as zany as them wouldn’t judge me for using runes and all the crazy things that result from them. I know that the particularly fun, zany people in my hometown never judged me. I’d love to talk to them. Although, considering the way they can talk around logic, they just might drive me mad too. I’d never be able to tell unless I meet them personally.

Anyways, getting to the memorable moment.

It started with the crown.

You see. Winky was trying to peg them on theft charges. Some items had disappeared from the mob warehouse Bendy and Boris had entered to try and retrieve a stolen backpack. (Although, personally I think it’s suspicious Winky knew exactly what had been in the warehouse originally myself.) Things escalated when Winky saw a glint of gold under Wakko’s hat. Being Winky, with his bloated ego and manipulative tongue, he demanded that Wakko take off his hat so he could check for the crown. He asked a guard to take the hat off when Wakko wouldn’t. I’ll admit it, Winky was clever with this ploy. Because the moment Wakko was looking at the guard, Winky reached out and snatched off the hat himself.

“Thank you, guardsman.”

Wakko Warner stood at the front of the room, crown on his head. He looked like toddler or something. The crown was half skewed across his temples from the hat being ripped off. His tongue was out, and I half wondered if he’d done that to add to the ridiculousness of the situation. The only thing that would have made it seem even more ridiculous was if he were wearing wrinkled oversized clothes. Then, he really could have ridden out the orphan argument.

Or, I don’t know, it could have been made more ridiculous if an enraged T-Rex had burst through the back wall to save him. At this point, I don’t put anything past those three.  

“You found the missing crown!” Yakko waved his hands at Wakko cheerfully.

Wakko blinked. I studied him. Was he acting?

“I did?”

“Yep! It was under your hat the whole time!” His sister chimed in.

“Well, I’ll be.” Wakko put his hands on his hips. “How did it get there?” There was no sarcasm in his voice, but I swear, there should have been. These three were good actors.

Winky (like he does with everyone else) ignored him. “This is obvious proof of the theft. I move that we strike their testimonies from the record and have the boy arrested!”

There were several gasps from people in the front. I thought I saw Bendy face palm.

“Now, hold on for one cock-picking-second there, bub.” Yakko waved a finger at the judge. “How dare you accuse Wakko of stealing! He never takes that hat off! How could he have stolen it! Obviously someone slipped it there!”

This time I giggled.

“If he never takes it off, then how could anyone have--” Winky groaned, putting a hand to his forehead. “Never mind. There’s no point in arguing this. Judge!”

I leaned forward, on the edge of my seat. I wasn’t that worried about them. I was more interested in how they would respond. (Honestly, at this point I don’t think there’s a prison on earth that could keep them.)

The judge blinked. “Ah! R-right! Ummm.”

I glanced at the judge. When I looked back, Winky...was in dollar sign boxers!!! What was up with this man!

I looked up and saw Wakko wearing the King of Heart’s wig and a suit. Most likely Winky’s.

“H-How did you--Give me back my clothes!” Winky snarled, reaching out with one hand, while trying to cover himself with another.

Yakko blew the crowd a kiss. I laughed. “Good night, everybody.”

By the time he was finished with that, Winky had managed to take back his clothes from Wakko. “Guards...er, officers!” he said as he desperately was trying to put on his pants. “Arrest this boy!”

There was so much talking going on in the back that it didn’t totally catch what was said next. However, the meaning was clear. One moment Yakko was talking, the next an officer was chasing him, and Yakko dove into the crowd.

There was screaming, and many in the crowd flew to their feet. I lost view of the front. Yakko landed on the lap of a fat woman who screamed and immediately threw him back into the air. A guard came charging down the aisle, reaching for Yakko as he fell again. Yakko, laughed, leaning back in a relaxed pose and putting his hands behind his head as he sailed through the air.

Yakko reached out and grabbed the neck of some poor giraffe woman, sliding down it like it was a fire pole. The guard slammed into her, and they fell into a pile on the floor.

Another guard came at him from behind, arms reaching forward to grab his waist. Yakko jumped, landed on his head and ran down his back, farther back toward the room. The guard turned around and went after him. Yakko ran past me and continued until the guard had cornered him at the back of the room. I turned around, eyes wide.

“Hands up, kid,” he said in a low, gruff voice. “This here is a place of order. You need to leave.”

At this point, I noticed that Yakko was chewing a wad of bubble gum. He blew a small bubble and popped it. “Oh, if that’s the case, then I want a double cheeseburger with a side of bacon and, uh, chili fries.” He grinned endearingly and waved for the guard to go.

“You little!” He lunged forward, but Yakko was already gone. That is, until he suddenly wasn’t gone, and he wasn’t gone in the spot right behind the guard.

“Hands up, was it?” He grinned. “Here ya go!” He blew up a huge bubble with his gum and stuck it to the guard’s back. Then...it just continued to grow. And the guard...started to float...toward the ceiling!!!

I watched in wonder as he rose. He passed the balcony level, and then the height of the giraffe lady, who had finally managed to untangle herself from the other guard. When he got near the ceiling, I started to worry. The gum was going to pop, and then he would fall!

Well, I was right about it popping.

The moment the gum touched the ceiling, it popped with a bang. It stuck to the ceiling as if it were rubber cement. The guard screamed, covering his face as he fell a foot and dangled. He stared at the floor in disbelief, then slowly looked up at the gum in fear. I could read his thoughts. How long would the rubbery treat last?

“Hellooooooooooo gorgeous!” I jumped when I realized Yakko was now in front of me. He gave me a grin and a little brow bob before winking. “You’re that little fox that stood up for our pals.”

“Uh. Yes, I guess.” I stared at him and smiled slowly. “You’re the rascal that seems to be able to talk around everyone.”

The grin on Yakko’s face grew. “Talking can be a fun talent. Listen gorgeous. I wanna thank ya for standing up to that ol’ caterpillar face up there, so how ‘bout I take ya out to dinner some time?” Caterpillar face? That was a good one.

A sudden thought came to me. “I don’t know about dinner, but do you, your brother and sister want to do something interesting after court?”

Yakko’s rather flirty smile shifted to a smirk. He raised a brow. “Interesting, you say?”

I shrugged, glancing toward the back door. My stomach dropped. Fairfax was no longer there. “Here’s not really the place to explain it.”

Yakko’s curious brow climbed higher. “Oh? Well gorgeous, you have my attention. Once this circus is over, we can hook up.”

“Uh?” How old was this kid anyways?

“ENOUGH!” I flinched, my ears ringing and turned back toward the front. Mr. Winky had Wakko by the throat. My eyes widened. Wakko! “You three are menaces! Keep this up, and you will all be behind bars for years to come!”  

Before I had a chance to respond, Yakko had disappeared again.

He reappeared on top of a chair. “You can try,” he said cheerfully. “The last place lasted a day.”

“Nah, we were out before dinner.” Dot was now on top of a cop’s head. Did these kids have a thing for appearing on precarious places to stand? The cop swiped at Dot and she jumped, gracefully landing on the floor with her dress held out like a lady descending a staircase.

Winky turned to Wakko, his grip tightening ever so slightly. “And you!” I almost got up, my heart squeezing painfully. No! You didn’t hold anyone that way, forget a child. “Let go of him,” I said quietly.

“That’s it! I want them out of here!” Winky started to yell. “Throw them into the deepest hole you can find until they can be here for their own trial!” He almost seemed hysterical now. “Get these monsters out!”

The guards seemed to have learned their lesson, because while Winky was having his tantrum, they had been sneaking up on the other two siblings. One grabbed Dot by the arm, dragging her back a little. She started to run forward, but he lifted her off her feet until she was dangling like a hooked fish. I was horrified, but Dot simply frowned at him from her dangling position. “Hey! Don’t you know it’s rude to grab a lady?”  

Meanwhile, the other had literally grabbed Yakko from the chair by the scruff of the neck. He wriggled in the air, trying to grab at the hand that was at the back of his neck. “Watch it! This is authentic fur!” Once again, he turned, trying to look at the cop this time. “I demand my one phone call!” The cop that had Yakko walked him into the aisle where Dot was swinging listlessly back and forth from the grip of the other cop.

“I will not stand for these heathens to be here any longer!” Winky _shook_ Wakko, still holding him by the neck. Wakko grinned, folding his arms comically.

“Hey!” This time I did stand, but Yakko’s retort drowned out my own.

“Then you should take a seat.” Yakko was still smirking.

“All you had to do was say please,” Dot added.

Dot said something to the cop holding her, but Winky wouldn’t have it. “Enough! Stop talking!” Wakko made a weird face at him as he yelled. I sat back down slowly. Winky glared at him. “Take them out!”

“Out? Do you like Mexican or Italian?” At first I thought it was Yakko who’d said it, but then I saw that it was Dot. Were these kids hungry or something?

Winky’s skin went dark with anger. “AAAAH!”

“N-n-now, now, Mr. Winky--Ooof!” Judge Hearts had finally leaned over his stack of books too far. As he spoke to Winky the top book slipped, and he disappeared like a magic trick.

“Well, there’s no reason for shouting. We’ll head out ourselves.” Yakko stuck his nose in the air, acting mock offended.

“We know when we aren’t wanted.” Dot mirrored him.

Wakko put his chin in the air in an absolutely adorable way. “Yeah, we don’t ne--.” Wakko coughed. I frowned. Winky was choking him! Winky said something else, but I didn’t pay him any mind. I got up instead. I was going to turn that slimy, cold blooded, no good snake into a snake! “Oh yeah, well, ugh!” His legs curled up as he dangled. He coughed again, covering his mouth.

“We need to get this room back in order and get back to the trial. Take them away.” Winky motioned to another officer, to my relief.

“Wait a second!” Yakko shouted. “Hold on!” My head snapped to him. Wait. This wasn’t--

“He said stop! Let go, meathead!” Dot was now like an angry cat. She scratched at the cop’s hand.

I stared at Wakko. He was looking worse by the minute. He coughed again, curling more. His face was white, not Warner white, but paper white. He seemed to be having a hard time breathing.

“Hey lady, will you sit down or leave? I can’t see a thing with you just standing there,” a turtle behind me groused with an annoyed expression.

“Oh, I’m so--”

“HEY!” Bendy’s cry made my head snapped back to the front. At that moment, Yakko kicked the officer that held him in the gut and raced to his brother.

“Wakko!”

Winky had dropped Wakko. He was now on the ground, leaning over and pulling his hand away from his mouth. I couldn’t make out what he was doing. “Ugh, crud.”

There were several gasps and suddenly everyone was standing. Helpless, I tried to peek over a hippo in front of me. There were concerned murmurs and a couple more gasps. What was happening. Wakko didn’t--?

I shoved my way out of the aisle and slipped through all the people standing in it now. The crowd was tight and just as I made it to the front someone stumbled back, slamming into me so that I fell and landed on the floor. I groaned, rubbing my arm. That is when I saw Snowball rolling away from me on the floor, a half awake peep coming from her. 

Ahhhhhhh! I reached out, accidentally grabbed someone by the leg, and barely managed to catch her before she was out of reach. 

Fully awake now, she uncurled and looked at me ruefully. I frowned at her. "Don't look at me. It wasn't my fault."

Cupping her carefully in my hands, I tried to put her back in my pocket, but she wouldn't have it. As I was lowering her, she launched herself into the air, and floated slowly onto my shoulder. Gripping the collar of my shirt, she gave me a determined look. 

Ok?

I turned back to the ruckus. Through a row of legs, I saw Bendy kneeling by Wakko, who was curled up in pain on the ground.

Yakko was on the other side. He looked at Bendy as two officers loomed over both of them. “Bendy. Don’t. We can handle it.”

Bendy paused, eyes wide and unsure for a moment. He turned to the crowd. It’s an Ink attack.”

My hands slipped on the floor, and I face-planted on the ground.

“Ow.” Snowball peeped angrily in my ear as she tried to keep her hold on my collar. I looked at her with wide eyes and carefully got back up. 

Wakko! No! Not another young one! Not a zany!!

Bendy slowly looked around at the crowd. “He has Ink Illness.” Then Bendy moved aside, and I saw it.

It was like his skin was melting. Large, thick strings of black sagged down from his body and ringed the floor around him. Lines of it went down his face, making him look like he was crying. Crying blackness. Dripping from his eyes. My stomach lurched. That wasn’t ink. That wasn’t ink. That was something else entirely!

I crawled closer.

Dot (who had somehow freed herself as well) dabbed at the ink on his face, Wakko’s hat on her head. There was murmuring in the crowd now. I slowly tried to get up, but an elephant had been right behind me. I bumped up against his rotund belly. I was trapped. 

Snowball glared at the elephant. I tried to rise again, pushing willfully now. He didn't move...or notice. 

“Are you serious?” I heard Mr. Winky’s skeptical voice. “They are menaces.” I stopped pressing against the elephant’s belly. “They were hopping around like wild animals not a minute ago.”

Bendy snapped something I couldn’t hear in reply.

Trying to stand up was not working.

My pet seemed to disagree with this, because as soon as I sat down, she jumped off my shoulder and drifted up between the elephant and his neighbor. She bounced against his side, scurried up a little, and bounced into the air again until she reached his large, drooping ear. Sitting on his shoulder, she settled herself for a moment. Then she leaned toward his ear. 

"MEEP!"

...Is probably how she intended, but what I heard was, "..eep."

Nevertheless, the elephant startled and looked at his shoulder. I tensed. Weren't elephants afraid of--

The elephant jerked back, reaching for Snow. Like the dandelion she was at heart, the motion completely dislodged her from his shoulder, and she drifted directly in front of him. However, he was ready, and his trunk wrapped around her the next second. 

"Hey!" I scrambled, once again trying to rise. 

Which was when he cuddled her. 

"Awwww. She so  _cute!_ " He looked at her. "Just what are you, anyways." He snuggled her as she tried to wriggle away violently. "It doesn't matter."

I sank back down to the ground, legs shaky. Oh well. She was fine. From my front row, ground level view, I saw Bendy take a deep breath and start to speak. “This is Ink Illness. Stop pretending it’s not here. It’s already hurt too many families! Stop getting in the way of the people that are trying to help! Wilson died trying to find a way to stop this! Dr. Oddswell is in prison right now because he was trying to do something to help! My brother and I have been running around this country because of it! We're all risking our lives, and you people have just stood on the sidelines! You’ve turned your backs on the sick!”

Deep breaths. Deep breaths. The elephant pressed closer. Oh goodness. I was going to die before Fairfax ever got a chance to try and kill me.

“Shoul-d-dn’t someone call the boy an ambulance?” The judge had reappeared. It was funny because while I could only see most everyone else’s knees, I could see Bendy and the king quite clearly from down here. It was the only solace I had at this point.

Bendy shook his head. “By the time they show up it’ll already be over.”

“But he’s dying!” the elephant behind me bellowed tearfully. I looked up at him in disgust. Well great. The guy had no sensitivity at all. I guess I should have expected as much since I _was trapped on the floor because he hadn’t even noticed me yet!_

“No! He’ll be fine!” Dot looked panicked. Bendy and a few others flinched, going visibly paler. “He wouldn’t die,” she said softer.

The elephant continued. “B-But didn’t you say--”

“Shut it!” The words leapt out of my mouth, and I shoved my way to standing, glaring at the mammoth. He blinked and stepped back a bit.

“Where did you come--”

“Underneath your feet,” I snapped. “Now, until you can have more sensitivity and care for those around you, I would suggest you consider very carefully before you say. One. More. Word.”

The elephant looked at the ground shamefully. “Oh. Uh. My apologies.” I nodded, lips pressed together. Better.

I held out my hand. "Now give me back Snowball."

He blinked. "Snowball?"

Snowball meeped at me in response. Looking down at her, he slowly let go. She bounced off his hand and onto my shoulder. I nodded at the elephant.

“Please!” Boris’ voice sounded behind me and turned back. His eyes were filled with tears. “We’ve already lost a friend. He was just a little kid!” A barb went into my heart. I pinched my nose. “Pl-please! Help! We’ve been doing our best, but we can’t help everyone!” I swallowed and swallowed again as my eyes started to sting. “Dr. Oddswell and those around him have sacrificed so much al-already! This isn’t something we’d m-make up! We’re just mechanics! We came so f-f-far b-b-but!” Boris’ voice dissolved into sobs. My head went light as I saw him cry. Big tears formed in his eyes, dripping down his muzzle. They left streaks of messy fur.

I turned back toward the elephant. I couldn’t look at this any more.

“Don’t make me lose more than I already have.”

I put a hand over my face. No.

“...Hey.” The elephant’s low voice came from in front of me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded my head slowly. “I’m fine.”

Just then, Wakko cleared his throat. “Sorry that I crashed the party.” His voice sounded rough, worn out. He spat out an extra wad of blackness. “Ugh. Nasty.”

I looked up and half smiled. He was recovering. Already he looked better. Wow. This kid was a real trooper.

More things happened. Wakko recovered and the judge called a recess on the court. King Hearts offered to feed the Warners. As the crowd filed out, I stayed there, right at the front of the room, looking at the pool of black on the floor that Wakko Warner had left. What exactly was this illness? It all had truly been surreal up until this moment. It was real. The death was real.

What was that blackness?

That was the question that Oddswell and so many others had been trying to answer. But. What if Winky had touched on something real in his questions? What if he’d been right, but he didn’t know it? What if a witch, or some other powerful being was responsible? It would explain a lot. The unnatural melting. The symptoms appearing and disappeared like they’d never been. The reason that machine had cured it before. The reason Oddswell hadn’t been able to find a scientific cure.

If I ran rune tests on the ink, maybe I could figure that out?

I waited as people filed out. As the last of them left the front of the room, I pulled out a little camping canister I’d bought when I first had gone homeless. I walked to the front of the room and crouched in front of the puddle.

It smelled...like a newspaper. To my disgust, the substance almost was homey in smell. I reached down and started to scrape as much of it as I could into my cup. It was sticky, smooth. Not like vomit. Not like blood. After filling the cup as much as I could, I screwed the lid on.

Then, taking a moment, I rubbed the substance between my fingers. It was warm to the touch, but quickly cooling down. A bit...oily. It smeared on my finger and stained it. Just. Like. Ink. It really was hard to tell any difference just by looking at it. But it couldn’t be ink? Right?

I stood up quickly and went to the bathroom. Most of the liquid washed away, but the tips of my fingers were now black. Would it fade? 

I stayed in the bathroom the entire recess. I was too tired to go to look for Xedo, and far too disheartened to be as paranoid as I needed to be if Fairfax was stalking me.

I got to the courtroom a few minutes before everyone else arrived. This time, I found a seat next to the aisle, on the second row. The usual hubbub happened as people filed in. Snowball had stayed on my shoulder most of the time, but as I sat on the bench, she seemed to take courage. She scurried down my shoulder onto bench, sniffing. She froze as someone walked by, but then relaxed. With a little effort, she managed to crawl up the back of the bench and perch on the edge there. 

“You look exhausted.” Xedo sat next to me, notebook and pen in hand. He glanced at Snowball, who proceeded to climb up his shoulder and sniff his fur. He flinched, but then smiled and petted her lightly. I looked up as Wiston sat next to him. “Are you okay? You don’t have to stay.” Xedo said gently.

I blinked. They weren’t supposed to sit next to me. I sighed. Oh well. It probably wouldn’t make much of a difference anyways.  

I raised a brow, looking at him. “I appreciate the kind words, but we both know this is too important.” Shrugging, I smiled. “And being here isn’t what’s tiring me out. Not really.” I looked down at the floor. “They’re good people. Bendy. Wakko. I don’t know Bendy that well.” I laughed. “I don’t know Wakko at all. I just don’t want anything to happen.”

It was at that moment that Snowball discovered there was much more hair on Xedo's head. Unfortunately, Xedo was not ready for an intrusion of a person sort, so when she tried to climb onto his head, he jerked in surprise. Snow sailed back four rows, and I had to chase her down.

By the time I got her back a few minutes later, the trial resumed.  

To my surprise, once they had Bendy and Boris situated, they led a kid into the room. He was of a dark complexion, had well kept hair, and wore a purple suit. He glared at everyone who looked at him. I sensed a strong desire in him not to be looked down on by anyone. The hair and suit felt unnatural on a child. Why was he here?

He sat down and was sworn in. Just then, there something fuzzy brushed against my neck. I looked down. Snowball was now pressed against my neck, all nerves.

“Mr. Facilier, tell us what happened that day,” Mr. Winky started.

The kid seemed to hunch his shoulders. He took a breath and let it out slowly. “I was coming home from school. I was going to run some herbs to some’a the people that see my mother. I was real excited ‘cause I was thinkin’ we were gonna have jumbo for dinner, but…” The frown on the boy’s face tightened. I leaned forward. I glanced at Xedo. Did he know what this was about?

I touched the small rodent, but she didn't relax. What had gotten into her?

“But what?” Winky was now gentle.

“I got home and mom wasn’t in. I figured she had to be in the shop at the back, so I headed that way.” He paused. “There was a racket. Mother warned me to never go in if there was a racket. I tried to listen to her. She was always serious ‘bout her warnin’s. So I wait in the hall for it ta get quiet. When it did, I opened the door a crack and peeked in.” The boy turned to stare at Bendy and Boris suddenly. “An’ I see those two standing over my dead mother.” 

Wait. His mother...dead? My thought was distracted when suddenly the fluffball on my shoulder  _dropped_. She felt about as heavy as a baseball when she landed on my lap. I stared at the animal. Was she okay? She tried to turn herself upright, but simply rocked on her back. Her body had poofed up to twice her size.  

“They weren’t the only ones there, either. There were these two strange men and an old woman with a snake.” I looked up as the kid talked. He was still staring at Bendy and Boris. The kid didn’t blink.

Scattered murmurs went through the room.

“Strange men?” Didn’t flinch.

“Yeah.” Didn’t look away for a second from the boys. “They weren’t normal fellas. They had cups fer heads and straws comin’ outta them! They were really weird.” The boy let out a breath, a small satisfied smile on the edge of his lips. His intense look softened. Snowball gave a pained, "...meep."

The cups had been in--Wait, what was with that look? Wait, Snowball!!

Why would he be happy? I looked at Bendy and Boris. Boris had tears in his eyes. He shook, wiping some away. Bendy was all hackles. His eyes were wide, his shoulders hunched. He looked conflicted, angry. His eyes were almost--barely red? Why was Snowball in pain? I frowned. Wait. Red. Magic. Snowball was made from magic. Were they related?

I looked at the stand. The last time Bendy had gotten mad enough to have his eyes go red, Winky had been raking Sasha across the coals for a while. He had a pretty good control of his temper. Either this kid had done something to make him really mad--mentioning the cups?--or something unnatural was happening.  

Immediately my eyes started to scan the room for runes. I started near Mr. Winky, his coat, desk, even the area around Bendy and Boris. Nothing. As I finished, a thought hit me. That kid had been looking at the boys pretty intently. 

“Cups for heads? Were they allies?” I ignored Winky, studying the boy. All that witches needed to start many spells was eyes contact. Could the boy...be a witch? 

“I don’t think so, monsieur.” The boy was relaxing now. I quickly looked down. Snow was still big, but she made no more painful noises. “See, one of those fellas started shooting at them two with colorful blasts from their hands. Those two had to run away.” He was not happy, but there was triumph in his eyes.

What was going on with this kid?

Suddenly, the boy was glaring again, but this time he looked even more angry. I looked at the boys. Bendy was matching him stare for stare. His eyes were definitely now red. There was a stubborn cut to Bendy’s jaw, and to my surprise, he didn’t look conflicted anymore. He just looked determined. Like the boy. Snowball's dandelion seeds fluffed up even more, and she started to float from my lap even though there was no breeze. This...was not good...

“The old woman got in the way, and they escaped.”

I sat back, grabbing the poor animal. This was definitely magic! And whatever either of them was doing was effecting Snowball too. 

I needed more information! I leaned over to Xedo. “Where is this kid from?”

“New Orleans. I believe his mother was a herbalist and a local fortune teller.”  Xedo whispered with narrowed eyes. He frowned and adjusted his glasses. “Something’s off.”

No kidding! _New Orleans?_ Uh Oh. New Orleans had a reputation for being the home of  _all types_ of witches.

How could I make him lose his concentration?

I looked around carefully. My eyes almost instantly locked on Wiston.

Oh.

Oh dear.

This might be a bad idea.

I leaned down and started to rummage through my bag. Once I found my match box I pulled out two matches and carefully replaced it. Clutching them in my hand, I turned to Wiston.

“Hey,” I whispered.

Wiston gave me a nervous glance. He was fidgeting with his hands. It looked like this might be a long time coming anyways.

I stared at him for a long moment. “I need you to light the curtains on fire.”

His ears perked up, and he stopped his fidgeting. His eyes widened. He blinked once, twice. “R-really?” he breathed.

“Yes. Just be sure not to hurt anyone, okay?”

He looked like a kid during Christmas. “Sure, sure. No problem.” His tail flicked back and forth.

I considered asking him not to tell Xedo I’d given him the matches, but that didn’t feel right. Not to mention, it would be leaving all the blame on Wiston. “When Xedo asks why you started a fire, let him know I’ll give him details after court, okay?”

Wiston blinked again, then nodded. He pocketed the two matches and turned back to the front. I looked at his brother for a second, and when I looked back, Wiston was already gone.

It didn’t take long for smoke, then screams, to fill the room. “Fire! Fire!”

Xedo, instead of looking worried, closed his eyes and let out a long suffering sigh. He didn’t even check if his brother was still there. I felt a pang of guilt. He got up and quickly headed to the smoke.

Chaos once again ruled.

Once everything was sorted out again, Wiston and Xedo were escorted out of the room quickly.

Winky grumbled, glaring at their retreating figures. He turned back to the boy. “I have just one more question for you, young man. What did the police tell you?”

I looked at Bendy and Boris. I looked at Snowball, who had deflated, but was laying on my skirt in exhaustion. Had the distraction worked? Boris looked confused, but there were no longer tears in his eyes. Bendy looked a lot calmer. The red was gone from his eyes, but the determined expression remained. I think it did. A sense a relief flowed through me. Snowball had curled up, asleep, so I put her back in my pocket. 

“Well.” The boy was glaring again. “They didn’t want to tell me anything for a while. I had to beg for the details and still, they barely had anything.” A lot of energy faded from the kid’s voice when he said this. His gaze on Bendy and Boris didn’t waver though. “They didn’t have any leads. They didn’t have a weapon. They couldn’t even tell me how she died.”

Winky picked up a sheet from his folder. “The report states that her heart gave out. The one mark on her body was a burn on her arm and a strange bruise on her back.”

I blinked. It sunk into me finally. Wait. Unknown cases of death. Herbalist. Fortune teller. Her son was a witch. This woman had definitely been a witch too. What had the boys been doing with a witch anyways?

Mr. Rabbit questioned the boy after this, but most of it was lost on me. I was too busy with the endless stream of questions running through my head.

List of urgent questions:

Is Ink Illness related to magic/witches?

Why does the mob care if we look for a cure to Ink Illness?

How does Ink Illness spread?

Why are the symptoms indiscernible after the attacks?

Who is the dice man’s boss?

How is it possible to turn flesh into a liquid?

Is that liquid really ink?

How are Cups dangerous?!?

When I looked up again, Boris’ questioning had finished. Bendy had just sat down in the witness chair.

I learned some interesting things about Bendy as the White Rabbit questioned him. Him and Boris were mechanics? They had been orphans.

Then Bendy mentioned his fight with the Facilier woman.

“Well, I mean, her crystal ball broke. I don’t know how that tied in, but next thing I knew, she split in two.” Split in two? A chill ran down my spine. The rabbit echoed my question.

“Yeah. Two...selves? One was, well, I guess it was her body. It looked like she had fainted and the other came outta her. A long black shadow thing.” Black...shadow…! That was shadow magic! Voodoo magic! The boy couldn’t--. One so young wouldn’t...make a contract with a shadow beast, would he?

I searched my memory. The boy’s shadow. Had I seen it?

I close my eyes and imagined. The boy walked in. He walked across the courtroom and sat in the witness chair.

No. I couldn’t remember seeing it around him. Not even once. I felt a sense of sorrow with this epiphany. That boy was doomed to the same end his mother had.

“Do you mind demonstrating what you can do?” I couldn't help but tilt my head. What he could do?

“Uh?” There was silence as Bendy stared blankly at the rabbit. Do what?

Mr. Rabbit made a worried expression. “Can you show us what you can do--within your means of course. Nothing big, just a little demonstration?” Of what?

I leaned forward. Bendy made a grossed out face. He really didn’t like the idea. “Alright,” he said almost inaudibly.

He turned about, looking for something. “Uh. Can I see a pen?”

The rabbit handed him a pen, and Bendy put it on a ledge. He opened his eyes, and I jumped. His eyes were red again! He took a deep breath and slowly, tendrils of blackness lifted from the floor. My jaw dropped and I stared in complete disbelief. A woman behind me gasped. I scooted to the edge of my seat, studying the outline of the living shadow. That's what he'd been doing earlier!!

It was shaky, and it lifted the pen slowly. How did he make them solid? The movements it made almost reminded my of a snake. Did that mean it had a mind of it's own? It shifted back and forth to keep upright. But that indicated that it weighed something and had to balance to keep upright.

Like a puppet master, Bendy flicked his finger to the right and the shadow moved. Left. It moved again. The shadow threw the pen into the air and attempted to catch it, but missed.

I blinked. The magic was over. I tapped my finger. This was interesting. 

“Oops,” Bendy sounded sheepish and embarrassed. “Sorry. I don’t have the best control.”

Quickly the shadows replaced the pen onto the banister. I narrowed my eyes. Actually, that last bit when the shadow had picked up the pen had been pretty coordinated. I smiled. Stage fright? There was a lot of potential here. 

“Thank you, Bendy.” Mr. Rabbit nodded at him. He retrieved his pen. “Bendy. What would you say your shadows are capable of?”

Bendy considered. I pulled out an extra piece of scratch paper.

\+ Movement

\+ Make them solid

\+ Pick up on strong negative emotion?

\- Struggles with coordination

I considered the list. Why weren’t the shadows coordinated? I glanced back up at Bendy. My guess was that he simply hadn’t practiced that much. I mean, most people already looked at him strangely. They probably would give him even more trouble if he went around with what looked like black tentacles moving about.  

“Do your shadows have an effect on the Ink Illness or visa versa?” the Rabbit continued.

Bendy hesitated. “Not that I have noticed.” He seemed a little concerned. “It’s not like I can tell who’s sick or not. I never tried to do anything to anyone who has Ink Illness either.”

The Rabbit nodded thoughtfully. “Now, I know this next question might be difficult, but have you ever made a contract with anyone?"

Bendy jerked back, looking disgusted. “Have I--No! Stars no!” He shook his head. “I don’t know the first thing about contracts. The last contract I signed was for my apartment.”

I laughed a little, but considered what I’d learned. He was an orphan. He didn’t use his powers much. Most demons were described as selfish, tricky, and they loved a good bargain. Bendy was nothing like that. Then, there was the fact that the world had never seen a young demon before. Bendy was very strange for some reason.

“Thank you,” the rabbit replied. “One last question and the defense will rest. How much do you know about demon society? Or in other words, how did you come to grow up here? I believe one concern that the jury has is that most demons are well known for very malicious things. And young demons are unheard of. Why are you different?”

I tilted my head. Well, here was a chance to learn a little more. Bendy frowned, the type of frown that said he was just done. “Look. I don’t know jack about demons. All I have ever known is Sillyvision. For all I know, I have always been there. If I have parents, I sure don’t remember them, and I really don’t care to find out about them. Your guess is as good as mine on how I got here.” He gave a tired sigh. “As for that malicious thing, could you all stop judging me for stuff I’ve never done? I’ve only seen one other demon, and I didn’t really care for the guy. I don’t know what the rest of them are like.”

I frowned. There was no way he just appeared from thin air. For some reason he'd been brought here from...wherever demons normally stayed.

Bendy looked down at his hands for a moment and moved uncomfortably in his chair. “I’m not really sure why I’m different either.” His gaze wandered to his brother. “It really doesn’t matter. I have a little brother to watch out for. I have friends that need my help. I got a goal to reach. Those are the only things that are really important to me. Honestly, I’m just a fella trying to get by.”

I smiled. Well. That was really heart warming. I couldn’t help but wonder if _that_ was why he was different. He had good people to love and care for. If it meant anything, I thought it was interesting that those were the first thoughts he had when the rabbit asked him why he was different.

“Well.” The rabbit put his paws together happily. “With that heartfelt statement, the defense rests.”

I took in a deep breath as the rabbit sat down. That had been amazing. We were almost there. I had hope, real hope that things might end well. Many good things had been shown about the boys.

Then Winky stood.

Honestly, in the next few minutes Winky seemed sporadic. He jumped from topic to topic, barely allowing Bendy time to say yes or no before moving onto another question. He seemed distracted and not truly into the argument. Then, just as suddenly, it ended. Bendy had finally had enough and pled the fifth and Winky...just gave up.  

He sat down and the jury went out.

When they came back it was the Cheshire Cat who read the verdict. I have to be honest, that surprised me. I hadn’t even noticed he was there the entire time! But, other than a moment of feeling queasy when I remembered how badly I’d gotten lost the last time I met him, and then again when he stood on his head, he seemed in a rather nonchalant mood...Unlike the last time I met him.

The verdict was Not Guilty.

My hand went over my mouth when the Cheshire Cat finally decided to spit it out. I laughed and stood, going for the boys.

Unfortunately, the rest of the crowd was just as determined to go talk to them. By the time I got to the end of the row, Bendy and Boris were already at the doors of the court house. I tried to shout out their names, but they didn’t hear me, disappearing outside.

That’s when I heard the gunshots.

Adrenaline went through me. That hadn’t--I shoved through the crowd as quickly as I could (Which was not fast.). By the time I got to the doors of the courthouse, I saw Featherworth and Ringtail chasing after a weasel who simply vanished the next moment. A police car screeched down the road, and to my relief I caught a glimpse of the boys in it. They were safe.

However, as I took a moment to let out a sigh of relief, the stream of people pushed outward. I was forced onto the street. I tried to go back to the courthouse, but the current of traffic was too strong. A few moments later, I was halfway down the block. I barely managed to make it into the doorway of a hardware store, out of the flow.

I looked to my left. I needed to go back to the courthouse. I was supposed to meet the Warners there.

I lingered in the doorway for a couple minutes, waiting for the crowd to thin out. Then, I went back to the courthouse. I was also hoping to run into Featherworth and Ringtail, but the two female detectives were long gone.

I stood at the front of the courthouse. It had emptied pretty quickly. There were scattered groups of people but as fifteen minutes passed, and then thirty, they dispersed one after another. I leaned against the front door. No sign of Fairfax either. Although, at this point it was better to assume he was somewhere out there.

As the crowds were starting to grow thin, I made my decision. I was in on this alone then. It made me uneasy.

I still had the boy’s map.

I wasn’t sure how this was going to end, and I’d have felt better if I could have at least given it back to them.

Lacking in options, I started to walk. I had a couple of ideas about how I wanted to do this. First, I needed to figure out where that detestable reporter was lurking. That in mind, I continued to walk, looking for a shop with big window panes.

There was a big candy store a couple blocks down and I paused there, studying the reflection. The street behind me was empty. I sighed. I wasn’t very good at this. Still, it didn’t make any difference.

I continued forward, looking at any reflections I passed, hubcaps, glasses, windows. Eventually I caught a glimpse of him.

That’s when I headed back to Alice’s apartment.

Once I arrived, I quickly locked the door and put a chair under the knob. That’s where I wanted him to come through. And if I wanted to prove intent, I’d have to make it pretty clear he’d broken in. That done, I moved to each window in the apartment and drew a circle of barricade runes around each of them. Then, I hid the map back where Alice had left it before. The letters she had written, I put underneath her pillow.  

Then, I went back and drew a giant circle in front of the door and set the trap.

I waited a couple minutes. Nothing happened. After another moment, I peeked out the front window...and smacked my forehead. Fairfax was at the corner of the complex, leaning against a pole and flirting with a short brunette in heels.

Seriously? He was trying to kill me and was taking the time to philander? My sense of killableness felt insulted. He should at least have the professional decency to try and hide while he was doing it. It made me sort of feel like trying to drop a potted plant on him, but that would have lowered me to his level. Not to mention, the plant deserved better.

So, instead I stood by the window watching as the sun started to set.

I had hoped to finish with this one way or another before nightfall, but no luck. Soon, the sun was down and shadows took over the street.  

Finally, the shmuck slipped into the building. Literally. There was some water near the door and his feet slid when he stepped on it. There was a distant ‘umph!’, and he disappeared. I stepped back. Yeah, Fairfax was being really intimidating.

I walked around my giant rune circle and lingered in the kitchen just past it. I froze when there was a knock at my door. A pause. Then, another knock. I waited. The knocking became insistent. For a moment I had a flashback to when Fairfax had harassed me. I scowled and continued to wait. The knob started to rattle. A sharp pounding. Then, silence.

I swallowed, and then tapped my foot. Should I go check at the window? But then I’d be pretty close if he found a way to open the door. What if he’d gotten in a window? What if whoever had helped him before was here, breaking the runes back there, creeping inside while I was watching the door? I turned quickly, my heart rate rising. The kitchen behind me was empty. Alice’s room was lit, empty as well.

The door knob suddenly clicked. I turned back quickly, stiffening. It jerked open in inch, but the chair stopped it. There was an angry growl.

Bam.

I took a breath and stepped back.

BAM.

CRACK.

The door groaned and my chair clattered to the side. Fairfax stumbled into the room...and right into my circle.

Perfect.

Fairfax got up faster than I expected and lunged for me. His hand went for my shoulder, and I flinched as he stopped.

He stared. “What the cuss?”

I smiled tightly. “Good evening, Mr. Fairfax.”

He growled and lunged again. When he froze mid-movement again, he pulled back and looked around. His eyes fell on my circle. “Oh? How clever.” He sneered.

I shrugged. “Just as clever as you flirting with that girl outside, I suppose.” I scooted back into the kitchen a little and picked up the phone. I dialed the number for the police station.  

“Now, now, no need to be extreme.” Fairfax smiled. “Why don’t you and I have a little chat?”

I tilted my head and smiled back at him. “Sure. After I get the right people on the way here.”

“Ah, and what good will that do? How long are breaking and entering charges? A month maybe?” Fairfax smiled.

The phone was ringing in my ear. I glared at him. Was that true?

“C’mon Hol, you know it’s true,” Fairfax said. He narrowed his eyes. “With this little setup...I wonder how much you really know.”

I scowled. “And what point would there be to talking to you? A month is more than nothing. I don’t have a death wish.” What was taking them so long to answer?

“The point,” Fairfax said. “Is that I can save your life. Make all your problems disappear, poof!” He waved a hand. “Like magic.”

I sighed. “And why would you do that? Why would I even believe you?”

Fairfax straightened out his tie and smiled. “Oh, you are too smart to believe me at this point, dear. I’ll cut to the chase. If I go to jail, much scarier people than myself will come for you...and me, to be honest.”

There was a burst of sound in my ear. “Hello, T.T.P.D.”

"I am a chivalrous fellow. The thought of what they’d do to you...Well.” He grimaced. “So, I suggest a simple solution here. You didn’t sign up to be hunted, and I surely did not sign up to hunt someone like this.”

“Hello?” the voice repeated over the phone. Please don’t hang up. Please don’t hang up.

"Instead, I am willing to give you an amount and help you disappear. For good. You can start over somewhere. Be happy, forget all about Toon Town and the madhouse it’s been. Think of it as a...witness protection and an apology.”

I tilted my head. Here was my chance. “And what would they do to my friends? Like Bendy and Boris, the detectives I’m trying to talk to, Ringtail and Featherworth?”

“Uh. Ma’am?”

“I get the distinct impression from what you’ve been saying that your bosses, the Sykes brothers plan to kill them.”

“Uumm.” The phone went quiet again. Oh, Yen Sid. She hadn’t hung up on me, right?

Fairfax’s brows flew up. His eyes widened and his grin grew.

Stars. That was not the reaction I had expected. Why was he so happy?

He hummed. “Truly clever. Oh, it’s not every day I meet someone that can get the scoop like I can.”

The phone came to life again. “Detective Ringtail. Who is this?”

He shook his head. “I’m sorry, dear. I can offer you an out. Those detectives made their choice to be a nuisance a long time ago. And the Bbros may have gotten out of the slammer, but the target on their backs only grew with the stunts they pulled today. No, I am afraid the only person that has a chance is you.”  

Ringtail made a noise from the phone. “Egotistical creep. Where are you?”

I paused, staring at Fairfax. “I don’t sell out good people. There are plenty of things more important than my personal safety.” I turned my head a little toward the phone and told Ringtail Alice's address. 

Fairfax scowled. “Ah cuss,” he muttered.

Things moved pretty quickly from that point. Out of a sense of curiosity, I called Tiptail as well. Being closer, he arrived first. He walked into the apartment calmly.

“Xedo Tiptail! Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!” Fairfax grinned. He stood with his hands in his pockets casually.

Xedo paused to look at the remains of the chair. He adjusted his glasses. The fox then turned to me. “Are you alright Miss May?”

“Aaw, the old cold shoulder. Good to see ya haven’t changed at all.” Fairfax didn’t seemed troubled that he was being ignored. “How long have you known my dear Holly here?”

I smiled at Xedo. “I’m fine. He didn’t even get the chance to touch me. Ringtail is on her way too.”

Xedo nodded. “Good, good.” He finally turned to Fairfax.

“How’s your brother? He didn’t get in trouble for that fire in the courtroom, did he?” Fairfax said. “Then again, it was a good thing you were at the courthouse steps after.”

“Fairfax.” Xedo approached the edge of my circle. The next moment, Fairfax was on the ground with a hand over his face. “That’s for going after an innocent girl, you greedy, starfallen excuse of a writer! I’m ashamed I ever worked alongside you!”

My jaw dropped. Fairfax just rolled on his back, cupping his face. Blood dripped between his fingers. “Miss May may have gotten you arrest today, but I will make it my life’s work to make sure you and Robert Sykes stay behind bars for the rest of your days!” His fur was fluffed up and his muzzle pulled back to show his sharp canines. “I am almost ashamed to be a journalist!” He spit on the ground.

Whoa. I blinked. He didn't need to hit...What?

Fairfax groaned. “Yo-you savage beast! You broke my nose!” 

“You're lucky I didn’t decide to claw your eyes out!” Xedo hissed. Fairfax let out a string of curses. Xedo turned his back on the man. He smoothed out his facial fur with his hands and adjusted his glasses. “Sorry for the display of violence, Miss May. I have been wanting to do that for a very long time. I hope you can forgive me.”

I couldn’t help it. I started to laugh. “You…,” I covered my mouth, “have no idea…,” I clutched my stomach, “how good it felt watching you do that,” I said between snorts of laughter. “That guy harassed me for such a long time! You’re my hero!” I wiped away a few tears. “When I trapped him there, and he just continued to give me that smug smile, I was so disappointed.”

Xedo blinked, then a smile spread across his muzzle.

I folded my arms. “About him getting arrested. I had Ringtail on the phone most of the time when he tried to bribe me into letting him ago. He admitted to being a part of a plan to murder Bendy, Boris and the detectives. So, they can get him on attempted murder--at least.” Xedo eyes widened, and he shifted his glasses with a satisfied smile. 

It didn’t take long after that for the detective to arrive. About five minutes later, there was some flashing from outside. Ringtail appeared at the door with a couple other cops. She looked at the busted nose and smirked.  

“Hey Holly, Tip, seems you had things more than handled! Thanks for making my job easy.” Ringtail grinned a sharp smile. “If only ya had gotten a couple more names in there, we would have had a full house. Oh well, nice job, May.” Ringtail mussed my hair like a child while she laughed. She was in a very good mood apparently.

“Thanks.” I smiled, trying to put my hair back in order.

“Detective.” Xedo nodded. “Where is your partner?”

The raccoon’s ear twitched, but otherwise her expression didn’t change. “Ol’ feathers got herself a spot in the hospital thanks to that irate weasel today. She’ll be fine, though. I wouldn't be surprised if she's back tomorrow. Just a flesh wound. The chief didn’t want her to push herself and sent her home.”

Xedo’s ears perked. Ringtail waved a hand. “And before you ask, the boys are fine. The kid got a skinned knee. They both left the PD quite some time ago.”

I gave a half laugh, looking out the darkened window. “They’re probably asleep by now. The day went by so quickly.”

Ringtail handcuffed Fairfax. After Xedo and I thanked her, she took him away, leaving me and Xedo by ourselves. I turned to him. “You mind if I sleep on your couch tonight? I don’t want to stay in the apartment with a busted door.”

Xedo peered at door. “He broke it?”

I froze. I chuckled within myself. Bad excuse. Time to be honest. “Um. Let me rephrase that. The fact that someone was trying to break into the apartment to try and murder me has made me feel...unsafe. Could I stay at your place?”

“Without question,” Xedo said. “You will always have a place at the Tiptail home, Miss May. It is hardly enough to repay you for all your work.”

I smiled, feeling relieved. “Thanks Xedo.”

With that, I picked up a few things (including the map and letters), and we headed to Xedo’s place. Now, it’s time for bed.


	55. October 22, Saturday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holly helps Bendy alter the map.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! I figured this was a good time as any to move forward with Holly's journal, since Tap is on her honeymoon. I won't be able to post another entry until she's back though since, chronologically, it wouldn't make any sense. Anyways, enjoy the journal!

“If I go to jail, much scarier people than myself will come for you...and me to be honest.”

The image of Fairfax’s face and the memory of his words were the first things I saw this morning when I woke up. I sat up quickly, hair mussed and nearly fell off the couch. Xedo’s apartment was quiet, and other than a slightly singed pathos to my right, I had no company. Well, conscious company. Snowball was curled up on my bag. 

Fairfax wasn’t lying. They probably would come to kill him. His people weren’t the type to leave loose ends. I felt a pang of...distress?

Fairfax was a lying, philandering, selfish schmuck, but I didn’t think he deserved death. And that wasn’t even addressing the fact that I knew they were still going to come after the rest of us. The boys, Oddswell, Xedo, the detectives, anyone else who’d been involved in this. We needed a plan.  

I sat on the couch, fingers tapping idly on the side table. It was still early morning, but not early enough that the police department wouldn’t be open. 

I dialed Ringtail’s line as I made myself a bowl of cereal. 

“Detective Ringtail and Detective Featherworth of the Toon Town Police Department.” 

I cradled the phone, pouring some milk. “Um, this is Holly May.”

“Hello, Miss May, how can I be of service to you today?” 

“Hi Ringtail. I remembered something this morning about Fairfax that I forgot to mention last night.”

The sound of rustling paper could be heard on the other side of the phone. “Go ahead, Miss May.” 

“He tried to get me to let him go because he said that the people behind this would try and kill him. He needs to be under protective watch...And the vibe I got from him, if you offered him a deal, he would take it.”

I could hear the scratching of a pen. “Thank you. Are you okay, yourself?” 

“I’m fine--” I hesitated. Actually, it might be wise to mention what Fairfax had said. “But Fairfax did mention that they would probably continue to send people...my way. I’m expecting that will be the case for all of us, though, until they’re all arrested.” 

“We will try to have an officer in front of your building most nights,” the detective said. “I still advise you be cautious.” She chuckled. “But you already know that, don’t you?”

I laughed. “If I know anything. Thank you, Ringtail. Good luck.”

“You too, Holly. Take care.” Ringtail hung up.  

Well, that was officially out of my hands. Mentally, I wished Fairfax luck in surviving. Finishing off my cereal, I changed in Xedo’s bathroom. I needed to get the map back to Bendy...I paused. Wait. I glanced at the clock. I was supposed to start work in an hour!!! I glanced at my bag, where the map was. But…that was more important. In a split second decision, I picked up my bag, popped my head into Xedo’s office to let him know where I was going, and booked it out the door. If I explained things, surely this Betty girl would be okay with me coming in late today. If she was Alice’s boss, she’d know about the trial, right?

Mentally looking at the city map, I followed the lines to the address Alice had given me. Halfway down the stairs outside Xedo’s apartment, I froze. 

Wait.

Wait a minute. 

What!?

I shoved a hand into my bag, searching for the angel map. Tearing it out, I stared at the paper. I tapped it with my finger. 

I was right. 

By Golly George, I was right!

Alice’s work was the same place I’d followed the angel to.

I shoved the map back into my bag and sprinted down the sidewalk. It wasn’t irrefutable proof, but it was good enough proof for me! I had so many questions--

I stopped in my tracks again. 

Oh. Right. Alice was gone. And I had no idea where she’d gone. 

Tempted, I glanced at my bag, thinking of the two letters sitting in it. 

No. 

It wasn’t my right. 

But...I could always ask Betty and Bendy if she’d mentioned where she’d gone. 

That in mind, I headed briskly down the street. Five minutes later, I arrived at Betty’s shop, opened the door, and peeked my head inside. “Hello?”

“Why, hello!” a...very high pitched voice greeted me. A woman behind the counter smiled. She had dark lips, and short, dark hair that curled around her face. Large round eyes watched me under thick lashes. “Welcome to Bimbo and Betty’s shop!” 

I stepped inside slowly. “Hello. Um, I’m Holly May, Alice’s friend.”

Her face lit up, and she quickly stepped around the counter. That had to be the shortest dress I'd ever seen! “Oh! You’re Alice’s friend! You must be the girl she was talking about! I’m Betty Boop. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She lifted her hand and offered it to me.

I shook it, smiling. “It’s nice to meet you as well. I...Well, I had a question for you.”

“I would hope so. I have some of my own,” Betty said, tugging her dress hem down. 

I laughed. “Understandable. You see, Alice’s friends--the ones who were on trial--I promised to help them with something important. I’m supposed to cover Alice’s shifts, but I was wondering if it would be alright if I came in later today, after I helped them.”

“Those boys that are the buzz of the city?” Betty asked. 

I nodded. “Yes, them.” 

“I met those fellas. Swell young men. Very handsome.” Betty hummed. “I think I can hold down the fort for now, dear, but do come back. I want to know what in the world Alice is doing.” 

I nodded. “Of course. Thank you.” 

With that, I sprinted out the door and down the street. Another cab ride later, I arrived at Granny’s house. I noticed, quite to my surprise, that the mysterious black car was now gone. Was it because Bendy and Boris had won the trial? But if it were the Sykes, it would only encourage them to be more aggressive, not drive them off. I set the thought aside and headed for the front door. 

A moment after I knocked, Bendy opened the door. “Bendy!”

“Holly!” His eyes were wide in surprise. 

A moment later Boris waved from behind him. “Hi!”

I grinned. Wow. They were so cheerful. It was a nice contrast to what it had been yesterday. Being on trial really made a difference in a person’s countenance. “I know it’s a little late, but congratulations on getting cleared. May I come in?”

“Thanks,” he said in a low voice. For a moment, I wondered if I’d offended him somehow, but then I saw him look out the door with a suspicious expression. Ah. Paranoia. Understandable. 

That aside, I started to search through my bag for the map. “I have to...give you something.” 

As I grabbed my journal, I had a split second thought. I would have to put those runes onto the real map today...There was a sudden and distinct drop in my stomach. Oh stars. I hoped I didn’t make a mistake. I’d done all the right tests, and it had worked on this map...But who knew what could happen with theirs. It was old, and I half suspected there was an element to the magic being worked here that I didn’t understand. The failures had been so varied, I had no idea what might happen if I was wrong and something happened. 

That thought choking my esophagus, I pulled out my journal. “Ah, found it.” Opening it, I took out Bendy’s map and handed it to him. No more worrying about someone stealing this thing! At least that would be off my mind now.

Bendy’s eyes snapped open like popcorn. “How did you--!” He stumbled over his words. “But then, where’s Alice?” 

I felt an awkward sense of uncertainty. “Um.” 

“Meeeeep,” I suddenly heard. Snowball was on my shoulder and glaring at Bendy. 

“Oh, Snowball!” Embarrassed, I snatched her up and slid her into my pocket. The last thing I wanted to do was explain what and  _ how  _ she was right now. “She had to leave." And apparently, Snowball didn’t like Bendy. I felt confused briefly as to why and frowned. “She left the night before the trial.” I fished her letter from the book. “She left this for you.”

Bendy stared at the letter in concern, and we moved back into the living room where two women were sitting. I blinked in surprise, recognizing one as Sasha, the woman who’d yelled at Bendy and Boris during the trial. 

“Sasha, Sally, this is our friend, Holly. She’s helping out with the Ink Illness.” Boris made introductions. “And Holly, this is our good friend from Sillyvision, Sasha, and her sister, Sally.”

“It’s a pleasure.” Sasha nodded, smiling. I couldn’t help but feel a little shy around such a strong personality. She’d been a sight to see during the trial, and I admired her strength. 

I suddenly noticed Sally grinning. “Ah! You’re the young lady that took on that sleaze! Oh! I was practically cheering at the television. It was a good thing I wasn’t in the courtroom. You were stunning in there, dear!” 

A blush immediately spread on my face. “Oh thanks. I just was tired of that man walking all over common decency.” The sudden realization that I’d been on the telly hit me, and I felt the sudden impulse to find a down quilt and hide underneath it. People had seen me on  _ television _ . 

I took a moment to push all my embarrassment down and turned to Sasha. “You were the brave one, though. I don’t know how I would have reacted if someone had brought up something so personal. I applaud your strength.” If someone like Winky had brought up and ridiculed my father, I probably would have just bawled.

Sasha sighed, tilting her head and folding her arms. “Sadly, I’m very used to pigs. I just didn’t expect that. I thought he was going to go after me for trying to hire Bendy or letting homeless orphans eat at my bar or even chip in a few bucks when Boris played for the band.” I laughed a little under my breath. Those were all good, kind things. Winky never would have gotten anywhere with them. I really liked this lady. “...I don’t know! Something with the boys! Not my...Well, either way. It all turned out well in the end.” I nodded, smiling. 

Bendy wasn’t very happy about that, he wanted Winky to apologize, but faster than I expected we were siting down and reading Alice’s note. Reading over Bendy’s shoulder, I found that more than a few things  _ confused  _ me. 

What was the problem Alice was sorting out? And if someone from the mob went looking for her, her former boss would ‘stamp’ them out? What sort of guy was her former boss? And why was she going back there if he was more dangerous than schmucks like the Sykes? What was an  _ angel _ doing messing with dangerous people anyways? 

Bendy had some of the same worries, and I didn’t help when I mentioned she’d given me her job and apartment. After a few minutes of talking, Bendy’s eyes looked distant and worried. 

I thought about Wakko attack, then about how Bendy was suffering himself. No. Bendy and Boris couldn’t be distracted. They didn’t have the time. I did, though. While they were gone looking for the parts, I would find out what had happened to Alice. 

“I know you’re worried, but it seems to me that right now might be the best time for me to alter the map?” 

Bendy blinked and his eyes refocused. “Yeah, we better get that taken care of,” he said, still distant. 

I finally sat down and pulled out my notes, placing them on the table where Bendy had spread the map. “Well, let’s get started then. So, you’ll have to show me where the line ends, then I can write the rest down.” I reached for the map when there was a violent slam against my hand. Snowball snatched my notes up, and faster than anyone else could turn their head to see, she gulped it down her throat. My jaw dropped. “Meep.” Snowball glared at me. “Meep-meep-meep.”

She came back and tried to drag my sleeve away from the map. Inwardly, I screamed. She’d just swallowed a ton of random runes!!! W-who knew what that could to do her!

That’s when I noticed all the eyes on Snowball. “What in the world is that?” Sally’s eye were wide. 

“Is that a...hedgehog?” Sasha looked confused. 

Bendy picked up something from the table and gave me a concerned expression. “What is that Holly, and why is it panicking?”

Uh… “Ah?” 

I sighed. Honesty was the best policy...right? What if they thought I was strange and dangerous like so many other people once they found out Snowball was made of magic? I carefully pulled Snowball away from the map. “I made her. On accident. When I was doing some tests to figure out the runes.” Saying each word felt like pulling out a thorny barb. “It’s half hedgehog...half dandelion? A dandehog?”

“Made it?” Boris was suddenly beside me. “Wow.” He reached out carefully toward Snowball. “Does it bite?” His nonchalance surprised me for a moment. No weird expressions. That made me feel...better.

I tapped my arm. “I’m not sure. I’ve had it…” Wait. How long had she been alive? Yesterday was the trial. The day before that we’d been at the warehouse. The day before that...were the tests. “Two and a half days?” Stars above! It had only been that long? It felt like it'd weeks since then! 

When I looked up again, Snowball was cuddling Boris. Aww. 

“Wow, Holly. I didn’t know runes could do something like that.” Bendy gave me that look--the same one he’d given me back when I’d admitted to the police girls that I'd had been stalking Fairfax for months. 

Feeling a little embarrassed again, I put my elbow on the arm of the couch, my head on my hand, and looked away. “Neither did I.”

I heard him snicker. “Nice job.” He paused. “So, where do you need to put your symbols?”

I tapped the area on the paper, relieved to have moved away from the topic of Snowball’s creation. “Here, here and here.”

“And you want to add them at the end of the ones that are already there?” Bendy looked at me and nodded. All things considered, the writing would be deceptively simple. Once I activated them however...I frowned and touched the map contemplatively. 

“Meeeeeeeeeep!” I looked up just in time to see a Snowball fly into Bendy’s face.  My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. Just what was wrong with Snowball?!?

“Hey!” Bendy let out a sharp protest, reaching for her. “Fluffball. You’re making a nuisance of yourself!” She scurried up Bendy’s face, avoiding his hand. He sniffed, looking like he was about to sneeze.

“I’m so sorry!” The moment of shock was gone. I scrambled to grab her too, hoping that Snowball would be more willing to come to me. 

Instead of coming, she darted farther to the right, out of my reach and practically leapt on top of Bendy's head, hiding between his two horns. She gave me a steely eyed look, shivering.

“Meeep.” 

I blinked multiple times. She...was mad at me? She’d never gotten mad at me before. I sort of hovered there in shock, hand still partially outstretched.

Bendy sighed. “You can stay up there if you stop interfering with our work.”

Despite my best attempts to stop, my mouth formed a slight pout. I could only hope no one else noticed. “I think maybe she has some trauma from the tests? I don’t know.” She certainly was afraid. But then again, if she was afraid of magic, why hadn’t she panicked when Bendy and that shadow boy were messing with the courtroom? She’d swelled up like a bad balloon. It had been painful, but she hadn’t panicked like this. 

Eyes on the small animal, I slowly touched the map, watching her. She ducked her head deep in her dandelion bristles and continued to shiver, pressing closer to one of his horns. 

“That’s a bit odd. I wonder why she likes it up there so much.” I tapped my lips, studying her as she peeked out tentatively. 

“Aww.” The sound of Sasha’s voice made me blink and turn. “How cute.” 

A half disgusted, half horrified expression slowly spread across Bendy’s face. “Yes. Cute.” Sasha repeated, the look in her eyes challenging him to contradict her. This could be dangerous.

“Sooo, if we have a moment, do you mind if I ask a question?”

“Uh-huh.” Bendy still had his eyes on Sasha, but also looked like half of his attention was on maintaining slow, gentle movements of his head. He still was petting Snowball gently. It was cute. Adorable in fact. I hide a smile. Then I blinked. Oh. Now, I would have to ask a question. My smile widened. But I had plenty of those.  

“How often do you use your shadows?”

The atmosphere in the room immediately changed. Bendy lowered his arm, frowning. Boris looked like a dog that had just been kicked, and Sasha had this awkward uncomfortable frown on her face.

Oh look. Yet again my curiosity had bitten me in the butt. 

“Not...much,” Bendy said slowly. “Why?”

I tried to maintain my smile, but my nerves betrayed me as I played with my hair. “I was just curious. When you did the demonstration in court, it looked like you struggled. I think you could do a lot of really detailed work with them, though.”

Bendy got this shocked, confused and slightly curious expression on his face. “Uh?”

I rushed my next words, afraid that he would shut me down. “Think about it. You can make your shadows as small as you need. You can reach things that a regular person never could because you can stretch them. I know that you probably wouldn’t do this, but if someone had a problem on the inside, you could go in and fix things with as little invasion as possible. You could do that with mechanics too.” I blinked. Bendy stared at me in silent disbelief. Oops. I had obviously gone too far. “Sorry, I got carried away. You probably don’t want someone talking about something that personal.” But there was so much that he could do if he learned! But I was being selfish. A good portion of the reason I wanted him to learn was because I wanted to see him work. 

Bendy continued to stare at me, and now even Snowball was giving me a rueful glare. But then, Bendy's mouth closed and his eyes got this contemplative tint to them. He was considering what I’d said. It surprised me. I was so used to looks of disbelief that seeing the consideration there sent a wave of courage through me. 

“So, why don’t you use them?” I asked slowly. Don’t push it too much, Holly. 

Bendy started to babble incomprehensible noises. “I never had...good control over them,” he explained. “And besides, they usually scare people away.” Runes usually scare people away, but I didn’t let that stop me. The thought jumped into my head before I could stop it. I pushed it away just as quickly. He was a demon. That wasn’t comparable. Although, I could empathize with people keeping their distance. “Good for self defense, scaring away a mook or two, but not much else. I didn’t want the town to, uh, dislike me more than they already did.”

Boris put a protective hand on Bendy’s shoulder. Ah. So that was why this was such a sensitive topic. 

“If you could, would you want to learn how to get more control?”

Bendy blinked and his jaw dropped “Wha--learn--ho--But--How!”

Bendy’s level of flabbergast was going up, so I waved my hand placatively. “I know you have important things to do, but I was thinking I could do research while you’re gone. Maybe with both our heads we--you could understand them more?”

Bendy didn’t reply, just put a hand on his chin thoughtfully. 

“Bendy, you can’t.” Boris’ worried voice cut through Bendy’s contemplation. His muzzle was down turned and the expression in his eyes was hard. “Remember what Dr. Oddswell said? You’re not supposed to use them!”

Bendy frowned. I frowned with him. He clicked his tongue. “It can’t hurt to  _ learn _ .” What was this about. Why not?

I glanced at Boris. “Oddswell said he can’t use them...Why?”

“It makes the attacks worse or something like that.”

A cold hand went over my heart, and I shook my head. Bendy crossed his arms defensively “I don’t know if I really believe that. The doc said he was comparing me to some other Joe with a talent like mine. Doubt that guy was a demon, bro. I think it’s different.”

“Well,” Boris shot back. “I’m not willing to risk it.”

I twisted up my mouth, feeling a pang of sadness. “I agree. If it worsens the illness for you…” I thought of Wakko’s attack and then the container of ink in my bag. “That stuff is bad enough as it is.”

“But does it?” Bendy argued. “When has it really been that bad?”

“That time on the train.” I looked at Boris. That time on the train?

“That doll might have been doing that!” My head swiveled to Bendy. Doll? Machine part? Doing that?!? What did it mean? Why would a doll make Bendy’s illness worse?

“And you used it in the courtroom too! I bet you’re in for a rough time soon, bro.” My head swiveled back to Boris. “You gotta be more careful!” 

“I had to! We weren’t going to get any parts from prison!” Back to Bendy. Bendy looked like an angry cat. “And if it saves our lives, I’ll do it again! I might as well have an idea about what I’m doing.”

This was not good. Having these two of all people fight with each other was just asking for trouble. 

“Okay.” I made a downward gesture. “How about this. Boris, you watch Bendy, see if his activities make a difference. Bendy, how much actual effort would you say you put into using them yesterday?”

Bendy gave me a sideways, reluctant look. “When I did the pen thing, it took some...focus. I could probably keep it up for a few minutes, though.” Only a few minutes, huh. I tapped my mouth. That meant he didn’t have much stamina for it built up in the first place.

“How tired did it make you?”

Bendy folded his arms, twisting his mouth thoughtfully. “Not...very. I was kinda distracted, though.” 

That was an interesting contradiction. He could only keep it up for a few minutes, but it didn’t make him very physically tired? What kept him from using it more then? Concentration?

I nodded, considering the potential implications of that. “I think if you do try practicing, maybe we should stick to small things like that then, things that don’t take much of your energy.”

This seemed to satisfy them both, although Boris crossed his arms and looked at the ground unhappily. 

Nope. If Boris wasn’t on board, I wouldn’t do it. Worrying the sweet, adorable, young pup was the last thing I wanted to be responsible for. 

I smiled, trying to reassure Boris. “But, well, as of yet my knowledge on demonology isn’t extensive enough anyways. I’ve only read two or three books, which hardly suffices.”

Bendy gave a snort, expression riddled with familiar doubt in his eyes. I swallowed. “Prolly a bunch of starfallen stories anyway.”

I hoped not, that would make doing research about ten times more difficult and--depending on how much fact was in the story \--short of impossible unless I went traipsing around looking for demons to have deep scientific discussions with. 

Even I had a lines I simply wouldn’t cross!

I took a moment to set that aside and nodded. “I have to agree with you there. Most of it feels like gossip or hearsay, but many times within each legend there is a sliver of truth. That’s what I try to look for.”

Bendy grimaced. “Hope it’s small slivers. I’ve never gotten much good outta those things.”

I resisted the urge to facepalm myself in despair. 

“Those things always make demons the bad guys, even when they don’t really do anything,” Boris added in an offended tone. He touched his brother. “They’re not you, bro.”

As the boys had a moment of banter, I considered what the wolf and demon had said. I wondered if Boris and Bendy had ever considered the potentiality that Bendy was the exception, not the rule. All the information in those books about demons  _ could _ be completely accurate. After all, there was on huge difference between your average demon and Bendy. 

Bendy had been raised on the surface. 

Sasha and Sally chose this moment to make their farewells, promising to visit Bendy and Boris again. Once they were filed out the door, I couldn’t help but smile. “You two have got good friends.” Sasha, Sally, Xedo, Alice, the Warners and even more. Bendy and Boris had many people who cared about them. It was so...warm to see their interactions with their friends. I liked seeing it. It was a...special atmosphere. 

“Yeah.” Boris was all smiles.

Bendy, however, was having a grumpy moment. “They deserve better than what they get.” He turned back to the map. He seemed about to say something when he jerked up. “Hey! Wait a second! Speaking of deserving better--you went  _ homeless! _ ” 

Snowball, having been forgotten by everyone, went flying like an autumn leaf in October when Bendy swiveled his head. She squeaked in panic, bouncing off the ceiling and deftly maneuvering herself in Boris' direction. 

I blinked several times. She was getting good at that. 

Snowball gave Bendy a dirty look and another angry squeak before burying herself in Boris’ bandana. I started to snort. 

An apologetic look went across the demon’s face. “Sorry--” he started to say, but then stopped, looking embarrassed. That’s what cracked me, the moment when he realized he was apologizing to a pint sized pet. I started to laugh silently into my hands. “Ah, um.” What had he just said again? Oh, the homelessness. “You don’t have to worry about it. It was by choice.”

Both the boys frowned at me, which sobered me up a bit. “Choice or not…” Boris started. 

“We know what it’s like out there,” Bendy finished. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Because I didn’t really know you two? Because if I was going to do tests on that map, it could be dangerous, and I didn’t want anyone to worry if I didn’t show up one evening? Because I was too star-fallen proud to ask anyone for help? A lot of different reasons went through my head. But I didn’t really like the scrutiny, so I didn’t want to say any of that. 

I shrugged. “Honestly, I didn’t have the thought to.” That was the easiest response. “My mind was preoccupied with runes.” True. “And...I was excited to help.” Also true. “Then, Alice offered to let me stay at her apartment, so it wasn’t a problem anymore.” Which made it so that there was no issue. 

If only the boys had seen it that way.

Bendy blinked, then blinked again. “Preoccupied...with...Stars!” 

Now, I was blinking. 

“Are we gonna have to worry about you?” 

I leaned back. No! Please don’t! 

“What kinda priorities are those! Excited! Didn’t  _ think! _ Didn’t think to have a roof over your head and a lock on a door!”  Bendy threw his hands in the air while I sank lower and lower into my seat. 

“Well…” My thoughts turned guilty. I guess I shouldn’t tell them about what happened last night with Fairfax then...or the weird rune stuff. Well, to be fair, I shouldn’t tell anyone about the weird rune stuff…

Suddenly, to my great relief, Boris snorted. 

Bendy turned toward him in irritation. “That’s not funny, Boris!” He dropped his head in his hands. 

Boris continued to snicker. “Dunno, bro. Kinda reminds me of the first time you tinkered with a car.”

Bendy lifted his head to glare. “That was completely different.”

Boris gave him an unconvinced look. “You stood out in the rain and didn’t even notice!” The wolf was now laughing. 

I started to smile. Well. It looked like I wasn’t the only one who was passionate about their work, then. It made me feel a bit better. 

“Forget it!” Bendy snapped, trying to look grumpy. “Let’s get back to the map.” He was failing, though. I could see the little smile forming at the edges of his lips. His brother had a strong influence on him. As my smile continued to grow, I realized he had an influence on me too. I glanced at him, watching his cheerful look of triumph. What a dangerously influential little pup.

Bendy made a noise and pulled the map towards us (for all the good it would do, considering how many times we’d tried to start the alteration and were interrupted). “So, this right here is the bottom line of the runes.”  Bendy tapped an infuriatingly white area of the map at the bottom. It didn’t even have the decency to be smudged. “How do we add them?”

I let out a breath. Okay. We were going to alter the map now. “Well, just show me where there’s an empty spot, and I’ll write them.” Wait. We were going to alter the map now. I looked around at the classically decorated room, books and other breakable objects placed tastefully everywhere.

Then, I imagined a whale dropping on the lot of it. 

“But...how about we go outside first.”

“Uh, yeah...Okay.” Bendy and Boris shared a silent, concerned look and followed me outside with the map. I spotted a small table at the far end of the yard and decided that might be the best. Not too close to the house, and not close enough to the trees to cause damage if something caught fire. I felt a little blood drain from my face. 

Although, if this map caught fire...That would be bad.

It wouldn’t light on fire. I mean, only one of the tests had succeeded in lighting something on fire. And I wasn’t using runes that were even similar to the ones I’d been testing. 

It would be fine. 

Pasting on a smile, I patted the table. “Okay. Show me where the runes end.”

Bendy pointed to a spot, and I drew a little line for reference. Still feeling a bit nervous, I reached into my pocket to look at my notes as another guide. Then, I remembered Snowball. I glanced at Boris and saw a little bit of fuzz sticking out of the back of the pup’s scarf. 

Well, Snowball had succeeded in making me a lot more nervous about this. 

I swallowed and slowly, carefully started to write the symbols from memory. I stopped every couple seconds to check my work and compare it against the image in my mind. I leaned back and took a breath after the third one was finished. “Now, the hard part.” 

I turned back to the boys. Realizing that I hadn’t exactly explained what was going to happen, I tried to find the right words. “Since I’ve been practicing on a regular map, I’m not sure how much energy this will take.”

“Can either of us help?” Boris’ eyes were wide and wondrous. His ears were perked, making me almost want to pet them. 

“Meep.” The tip of Snowball’s nose peeked out. It quivered, and I wasn’t quite sure whether she’d been commenting on Boris’ words or if she just sensed that I was about to activate the runes. In any case, she pulled her nose back in quickly. 

“No…” How had Wilson explained it on the telly that one time? “What I’m saying is that with all runes, you should have a degree of respect. Many things could happen. I could pass out. I tested this, but if there is something unique about this older map, the runes could affect it differently. Just...be prepared.” I turned toward the map. 

“Holly.” Bendy’s voice broke through my concentration. “Exactly how dangerous...is this?”

I’m not sure whether at that moment I was afraid to answer his question because he would stop me or whether I had already pushed too far in the activation process, but the next moment the map itself started to glow. “Oops.”

I started to back away as the light turned a frightening, angry tone of electric white. “I already activated it.”

“Holly!” Bendy jumped back like I’d thrown a jumping spider at him, his arm pressed across his brother to move Boris back with him. 

I thought about answering him, but then I felt a sudden drain of energy go through me. I turned back to the map. 

Pegasus’ star-kissed horsefeathers! That was a lot of energy.

My knees tried to buckle as more energy drained from me. It was as if the map was a greedy child sucking from a straw. Then, there was a build-up of energy in the map.

I stumbled back as the first angry spark jumped out over the table from the center of the map. Then, I saw the words and lines on the map start to madly erase, going from center outward. 

The sparks jumped higher, and one nearly zapped me in the face when I tried to check the map again. All of a sudden, however, it was over. 

In wonder, I watched the map rewrite itself at incredible speed. Inky lines sped across the map as if they was possessed, writing in detail I didn’t think any person could hope to replicate. The lines were dainty, detailed. 

Then, they were finished. I took a deep breath, finally daring to touch the table to steady myself. “Whoa...Well...Done.”  I turned to the boys. “Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to surprise you.” Then, my jaw dropped. 

Bendy and Boris were staring at the map. That didn’t surprise me. However, just behind Boris’ head, Snowball clung onto the end of the young wolf’s scarf for dear life. She had bulged twice her size again and was swaying from Boris’ scarf as if she were some bizarre balloon. 

Boris, of course, didn’t notice.     

Bendy narrowed his eyes in exasperation. “Warning next time, Hol. A warning. Please.” 

I opened my mouth and closed it as Boris snickered. “But she did, bro.” 

...The Snowball was floating…Huh?...Hol?

“More detailed than that!” Bendy shot back without turning. 

“Did it work?” Bendy walked past me. Snowball continued to cling desperately. A white balloon on a red string. That was what she was. 

“Meep!” She cried desperately a Boris passed me. 

Coming to my senses, I caught her when Boris’ was looking at the map. I could feel pressure against my hands as I kept her from floating. 

Yup. Exactly like a balloon. 

She gave me an exhausted expression, and I carefully slipped her back into my pocket, buttoning it for good measure. 

“This is perfect! Holly, you’re amazing!” Boris turned toward me, map in hand, his tail wagging ferociously. 

I couldn’t help but grin. 

Bendy whistled, looking past Boris’ elbow at the map. “Yeah. Not bad, Hol. Not bad.” 

Our eyes met, and I grinned at him too. Wow. And nothing too horrid had happened either. 

Boris suddenly started yelling. “Oh heavens! Bendy!” He jumped, still holding the map like some sort of treasure. 

“What?” Bendy chuckled. 

“LOOK!” The map was suddenly underneath Bendy’s nose. I leaned over to look. 

It was a new piece. 

Well, that’s a bit dramatic. I mean, all I saw was a blank piece of paper, but at that point, I got the gist of what was happening. The next moment, the boys were gone. Boris yelled something about packing, and they both booked it back inside faster than it takes to recite the alphabet. 

I stood in the backyard, still a little dazed. After another moment, I shrugged and smiled. This was amazing. They were well on their way to the next step they needed. I should be proud of myself for being able to help. 

Now, all I needed to do was go to work...and try those tests I wanted to do on the ink. Well, that might have to keep for tomorrow. I moved slowly around the house and down the sidewalk. My eyes kept on fluttering downwards.

I'm not exactly sure what happened after this point. 

Honestly. Truly. It's pretty much blank after that. When I woke up in bed at Alice’s apartment this morning, I had a miniature panic attack because I had no idea how I’d gotten here, and the memory of Fairfax was pretty fresh on my mind. I hope I didn’t make a mess with Betty, but I guess I’ll find out today.

It sort of frightens me. Haha. Sort of...What I meant was that it  _really_ frightens me. Not that I think anything bad happened, but I’ve never not remembered something before. That the map took that much energy is...rather chilling in my opinion. 

However, that's now in the past. Hopefully, I won't have too much cause to mess with those ancient runes again.


	56. October 23, Sunday (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holly meets lots of interesting people at Betty's and starts to look for Alice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while. I want to keep just behind the main story, so I figured giving Tap a bit of gap to write before I posted what's happening with Holly would be the best way to do this. Anyways, I also wanted to share something. ViraSol drew some art for Holly! I think it's so cute. It's of Holly following Fairfax. Here's the link if you guys want to check it out. You should follow her on Tumblr because her art is amazing. So much talent. I also am posting the picture in the end note if you want to look at it there. 
> 
> https://novicsink.tumblr.com/post/178031048441/i-finally-finished-it-meet-the-characters-holly

Lately, I really have felt like things are starting to look up now. I have a home, a job, I was able to help Bendy and Boris fix their map, and today has been one of the most exciting days ever!

Well, not literally, getting chased by the mob was exciting, but not in a good way. I met Felix the Cat. (Among other people.) But then we went to look for Alice and...something strange happened. I'm legitimately worried now. Okay. Okay. From the beginning.

This morning, I left Snowball at home and headed for Betty’s earlier than usual because I wanted to make sure that if I had completely forgotten to go to work yesterday. I wanted try and explain myself/make it up to her. When I walked into the shop, I found her putting some cans on a shelf.

“Hi Betty.” I raised my hand awkwardly.

Betty looked up and gave me a once over. “Did ya get home and sleep like I told ya to, dear?”

I blinked. So, I had come to work yesterday. I nodded quickly, smiling. “I did. I’m so sorry about yesterday. I don’t quite...remember much? What happened?”

“You came in, but I couldn’t tell if you took something or hadn’t slept for days,” Betty tsked. “You need to take better care of yourself. You seemed happy at least.”

I laughed lightly, scratching the back of my head. “Yeah. The work I did with Bendy and Boris took more out of me than I expected. I’m fine now.” Gathering up my bag, I put it behind the desk and started to help Betty set things up. With two of us, we worked quickly and soon it reached the hour for us to open the shop. I went to the front and flipped the sign. Betty told me she had some counting to do, so I ended up taking a seat behind the cash register.

The moment I sat down, I had a sudden flash of dejavu. I’d sat behind a counter exactly like this back when I had worked for the school. I ran my hand along the edge. It was sort of funny, thinking back about it now. I was still sad I had lost my place at the university, but I didn’t regret all the things I had been able to do with that extra time.

I feel like I’ve learned more in the past couple months than I had those first two years in the ancient languages program. Ha. Mostly because I was desperate to find an old rune that would work.

That’s when the door pinged, and I looked up. My heart jumped right out of my chest when two cats walked in the door. One was female, wearing a cowboy hat, jacket and comfy black boots. The other...was Felix the cat. They walked in, talking to each other.  I blinked. Then blinked again. I tried not to stare, but it was useless because no matter how many time I looked away, my eyes would drift back to them again. It took all of my sense of dignity and self control not to let my jaw drop.

“So, you’re tellin’ me that he just up and walked away?” the female cat said, shocked.

“I know. I couldn’t believe it at first either,” Felix said, waving a hand. “It almost took me a week to figure out they paid him off.” My eyes widened. Was he telling her about one of his adventures? My heart started to pump in excitement. I listened harder.

The woman scowled. “I thought he was more honorable than that!”

“Me too. It’s a good thing I tracked him down. He had found the secret back entrance and was going to lead them straight to the emperor's staff right under my whiskers!” Felix said. They wandered over to the canned goods, and once again I attempted to look nonchalant, tethering my gaze firmly to my desk. I didn’t want to be rude.

“But you said the place was full of traps!” Sheba said with a puzzled look. I swear, my ears grew larger the longer I listened.

“It was. The reason we were having so much trouble wasn’t because the map was wrong, it was because it was for the back entrance. All the traps were shown for that passage, not the front,” Felix explained. Oooo. Tricky. I wondered which site he was talking about.

“So Jer had figured it out, and when those thieves showed up with a wad o’ cash he sold out and showed them,” Sheba summed up. I couldn’t help but look up again. I hated treasure hunters. I remembered an article I had read for class in my first year. The chance of regaining lost artifacts after they'd been stolen was slim.

“Exactly!” Felix pointed at her.

“So what did you do next?” Sheba asked with a smirk.

“Followed them of course,” Felix said. “They disarmed the traps, and then I pulled a fast one in the throne room.” They picked out a few things and wandered down another aisle.

“Oh?”

“Well, the emperor pulled a more fast one,” Felix grinned. “See, there was a scepter in the middle of the room. On display, bright and gold.”

“And one would think that was the staff,” Sheba said.

“But it wasn’t. It was a decoy. They would find out later that it was made of wood.” Felix smiled. “The real staff was behind the throne in the resting place for his things when there was meetings or guests.” I narrowed my eyes. Actually...that was a really clever idea. According to Bendy and Boris there were people looking to take the items away. If we maybe were able to use a similar approach to safeguard them. I grinned. Leave it to Felix the cat to bring up a brilliant idea!

“So, you slipped past the bozos and nabbed the real thing!” Sheba laughed. “Oh, I wish I had seen their faces when they found out the truth!” I smiled too.

“The scowl he gave me at the press release in the British Museum of Ancient Civilizations was reward enough,” Felix said humbly. I huffed. The scoundrel who'd been trying to steal from a site had also been at the press release? Obviously, he hadn't been held accountable for his actions. It made my blood boil. “That and the staff was in proper hands instead of on some collectors shelf or being sold on the black market.” I let out a breath. Yeah. That was a good point. 

I blinked. I remembered seeing in the news that the British Museum was releasing something,  but with all this hubbub, I had missed it. Applesauce! That was a shame. (It would have been a nice change of scenery when I was homeless.) Maybe at some point when I wasn’t afraid for my life, I would go visit the museum and take a look for myself.

Sheba rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, because that is the most important part.” I frowned. It _was_ important.

Felix looked at her offended. “It’s valuable history that helps us better understand how their civilization functioned! Who knows how much history and knowledge has been lost because of greedy thieves and snobbish collectors!”

“Exactly.” The word was soft, and it slipped out of my mouth before I realized it.

Felix’ ear twitched, and he turned to face me.

I felt my face heat. “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Felix grinned. “Not at all. It sounded like you agreed with me.”

The female cat rolled her eyes. Wait. There was something familiar about the cat.

I grinned back, glancing at his friend. I just needed to search my memory... “Yeah. There’s already so much we don’t know about the past. It would be a shame to lose more.” I cleared my throat nervously, feeling shaky. “My name is Holly May.” I stuck out my hand. “I’m a fan of your work.”

Felix shook my hand with a warm smile. “It’s always nice to meet a fan. What do you like of my work Holly, if I may ask?”

Of course this question caused my mind to go completely blank. I blinked. “Well, there’s the adventure.” I blinked again. “And learning about the places you go to.” I was making a fool of myself. I searched my head blindly for why I had become a fan of Felix.

Sheba snorted. “Trust me little lady. The awe wears off after you learn that this guy is a huge palooka.”

“Sheba!” Felix frowned at his companion.

“What? You’re not denying it!” Sheba smirked.

I smiled at both of them. It made me happy to think that Felix the cat had a friend good enough to tease him like that. Out of nowhere an old, old memory came to mind. I smiled softly. “But most of all, the work you do reminds me of why I love runes.” I took a deep breath, steadying my nerves. “I see a genuine love of learning about the past in your books. It actually reminds me of my own father. He taught me to love the past. I learned a little bit about runes from him.”

“Runes?” Felix’ eyes lit up with excitement.

Sheba blinked. “Say uh?”

“It’s an ancient form of magic. A lot of the traps for the Micco people in particular use rune magic,” Felix said.

I nodded. “They’re pretty useful for everyday things as well.”

Sheba stared at me. “So, you some kinda witch or sorceress or something?”

That dampened my mood a little, but I didn’t let my smile drop. “No. Being a witch or sorceress works different than using runes. Anyone can use runes, but you have to make a contract to be those other things.” Where had I seen her before? A moment later it clicked and the memory came back. It had been way back when I was job hunting. Shelly had told me about a book shop that had an opening. This had been the cat running it! She’d given me the Felix book. My smile brightened slowly. She was a good cat.

“That magic system is completely different, Sheba,” Felix said. “For runes anyone can use them, but they are dangerous to use without proper training and knowledge. It’s all very fine, detailed work.”

I nodded quickly. “Yes. If you use them on a regular basis, it’s better to stick to well known, well used combinations.” As shown by all the strange things that had happened when I’d done tests on the map. Then again, even when I’d entered college, it had been my intention to research deeper into how to use runes. I’d never intended to stick with the basic, safe runes.

“So, you’re interested in ancient magic?” Felix asked.

That made me grin. “Yes. Runes specifically, but I’m also interested in anything involving the history of the Micco or the ancient races.”

“Ancient races?” Felix asked, excited. “How so?”

Well, it was because of the Ink Machine, but that wasn’t mine to share. I scratched my head, smiling with embarrassment. “It used to be my major when I went to the university,” I said instead.

“Really? Splendid! I don’t get to hear something like that every day.” Felix grinned. “You must really enjoy observing the runes at the school then! Who is in charge of that department now?”

“Uh.” This was a little awkward. “I did love watching the skylight. It’s the most amazing piece of craftsmanship.” I felt a pang of homesickness for it. Sheesh, just when I thought I had moved on from being sad about it. “Last I heard, Professor Bard was in charge of Archeology and Ancient Languages.”

“Bard? That old stickler?” Felix blinked and his smile turned sharp. “She’s probably making a smart mess of the place.” He chuckled.

“Uh Feels, glad you can be all buddy-buddy, but we gotta get going,” Sheba said.

“What? Oh, right.” Felix dropped his ears and scratched the back of his head.

I grinned at him. He was so much more _relatable_ than I had realized, reading his books. He was easy to relax around. “She was a real terror when I was there. I’m so glad you came in here, and I got to meet you two.” I put out my hand again, winking. “I wish you luck on your next big adventure.”

“Thanks!” Felix said. “I hope to hear about you too. There aren’t a lot of people brave enough to research ancient runes anymore.”

I grinned. “That’s one of my motivations. I really love them. I’m determined to show the world how amazing they are.”

I rang Felix up and started to put everything in paper bags. Just as I was about to finish, I turned to Sheba. “I don’t know if you remember, but I was in your shop once, and you gave me a book. I just wanted to say thanks. It really helped in a hectic point of my life.”

Sheba blink, “Oh? Well, I’m glad it helped. Speaking of books, mind keeping the little adventure you heard a secret? That hasn’t been been published yet.” The cat winked.

“Of course.” I winked back. With a final wave, the two of them filed out the door and silence settled in the little room again.

A moment later Betty peeked her head out of the storage room. “Was that Felix the cat? It’s been a while since he’s come around here.”

I jumped. I’d completely forgotten she was back there. “Ah.” I grinned. “It was! He’s come around here before?!” My eyes widened with wonder.

Betty chuckled. “Once in a while. He’s sweet. We get a lot of celebrities in these parts.”

I blinked. It’s not at all what I had expected from a little shop in downtown Toon Town. “That’s a pretty amazing.”

She beamed proudly. “Singa’s and leaders and movie stars.”

With only Betty there to watch, this time my jaw did drop a little. “Wow.”

After that, people came in and out of the store. I messed up a few times, figured out where you can find elephant popsicles. It was mid-afternoon before things calmed down again, and the shop emptied around lunch. With Betty’s permission, I settled into reading a book I had found in Alice’s apartment. It was historical romance about a cat and dog who had fallen in love, but were kept separate because their families had been feuding for generations. It was called Dogio and Catiet.

The bell above the shop door rang, and I looked up. To my surprise, Bendy and Boris slipped in the door. Boris waved. “Hello, Holly!” He looked in good spirits. Bendy, on the other hand, looking grumpy. His hands were in his pockets.

I tilted my head. But why were they here? Hadn’t they left for the other piece yesterday? “Hi Boris.” I paused. “Didn’t you two already leave?”

Bendy scowled, looking in another direction. Boris just kept on smiling. “Bendy forgot to get more pills, so we had to turn around.”

My brows went up. “Oh, that’s not something you want to leave behind!”

Then, the obvious reason for them noticing this kicked in. Had Bendy had another attack? I looked at him. “Are you okay!?”

Bendy’s face turned red, and he turned even more away from his brother’s direction. “I’m fine!” His hand went deeper into his pockets. “It’s just pain meds,” he bit out.

Boris shook his head in disappointment. “You’re impossible.”

I couldn’t help but smile at that. It was just so...Bendy. He’d never admit to having a hard time. “Stubborn as always, huh?” I shook my head. “So, I’m guessing this isn’t a social visit. Anything I can help you with?”

Boris immediately went into listing off goods. “Non-perishable foods and...Do you have any climbing gear? Rope and such?”

Climbing gear? Did that mean the next piece was some place up high? “The canned and dried foods are over there. As for climbing gear…” I had no idea. I turned toward the back. “Betty? Do we have rope or any climbing gear?”

“Back by the camping and traveling things, next to the picnic baskets!” Boris grinned and started in that direction.

To my surprise Bendy didn’t follow him. “Hey, I’m gonna stay up here for a second. To talk to Holly.”

“Don’t embarrass me.” Boris rolled his eyes upward in silent exasperation.

What did that mean? “What? Me?” Bendy raised a brow and then made a noise when he saw Boris was already gone. “Brothers,” he muttered. I couldn’t help but chuckle. He turned back to me. “Did we thank you for the map? I think we kinda ran off and left you the other day.”

“Things got a little crazy yesterday, but yes, you did.” The memory of their excited faces made me smile.

“Good. I think we forgot something too. Boris and I, that is...Uh.” Bendy shrugged, taking something out from his pocket. I looked down, curious. “You really proved yourself with the map and with helping Alice. I’m sure I can trust you with this.”

I blinked. It was the page from before! “We tried to make heads or tails of it, but you’ll do a much better job than either of us.” My mouth opened slightly, and I took the page gently. It was crinkled, like I remembered. The familiar symbols looked back up at me. I picked out a couple that I already knew from when I had been doing research for the map.

I took out my bag and slid the page into my journal. It was the safest place I had. I looked up again. Bendy had on a bemused expression as he leaned against the counter. Obviously, he thought my excitement was funny. “I’ll have the translation finished by the time you two get back.”

“Berries,” he replied. “And hey, when we get back, you should let me take ya out for lunch or something. You’ve done a lot, and I’d love for us to spend some time together for me to show my appreciation.”

That threw me off. Was he asking...for a date? It felt sort of weird coming from him, but then I remembered the very first time I had met him. He had proven himself to be a pretty nice flirt. That made me smile. I liked talking to Bendy. Slowly, I nodded. “Sure.” And I honestly wanted to get to know both him and his brother better. “I would enjoy that.”

Bendy’s bemused smile brightened a little. “Double berries. Think of somewhere you’d like to eat while we’re away.” Then, he winked.

Yup. There was the flirt, right there. I raised a brow and just grinned. “Okay. I look forward to when you get back.” For more reasons than one. I was still hoping to convince them to let me see one of the item pieces.

“Me too.” Boris suddenly appeared from one of the aisles. “We’ll have another Machine piece.” His arms were stuffed with items, and he deposited them on the counter cheerfully. I quickly added up all the items, and they paid for it and left.

Once they were gone, I let out a long breath. Wow. It had been quite a day so far. First I had met _Felix the cat_. Oh, I should have told Bendy. I tapped my fingers against my lips. Maybe after they got back? And I’d been asked on a date. It'd been a long while since that had happened. It filled me with a lot of energy. Well, if that was my day, I’d be really cont--.

The door chimed open again. A high pitched laugh sounded as a the cast of the Fantasia circus walked in the door. This time I had no pride. My jaw dropped. Betty wasn’t kidding when she said a lot of famous people came around here! It was Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy. I blinked, closing my mouth and trying to shove my surprise right back down my throat.  

“Ha-ha.” A sarcastic laugh followed behind them. “Real funny, Duck.” A tall rabbit followed the group in. He looked familiar. I immediately started to search my memories.

“You’re just mad that it’s true,” Donald quacked.

“Is that Mickey and the crew I hear?” Betty came from the back. I turned too. Betty knew them too? Well, that made sense if things went the way she said it did.

“Hey, Betty.” Mickey waved.

“Oh! It’s so good to see you boys again!” Betty skipped over and gave Mickey a peck on the cheek. She went around and kissed the rest on the cheek as well. “It’s been so long.” Apparently, she was a well known friend.

“Garsh, that’s what happens when ya go on tour Miss Betty,” Goofy explained.

“And how was the tour?” Betty asked.

Oswald the Rabbit. I blinked, picturing a memory from way back when I’d first come to Toon Town. He’d stopped performing a while ago because his wife passed…Wait. Her passing had also been one of the newspaper articles I’d wondered about. Had it been Ink Illness? I couldn’t help but glance at the handsome bunny again.

“It went great! There were so many interesting places to visit, Betty!” Mickey said. Betty grinned.

“So, what brings you handsome men to my shop?” Betty asked.

“We’re here for some speckling and paint,” Mickey explained. I tilted my head curiously. What did a bunch of performers need with paint?

“That would be right down there.” Betty pointed to an aisle.

“Golly, thanks Miss Betty!” Goofy grinned.

“Sure thing, hon.” Betty smiled.

“I say toothpaste would still work,” Donald muttered. Toothpaste? How would toothpaste work to replace speckling and paint?

“We’ve been over this Donald. Pete would notice that.” Mickey rolled his eyes.

“It’s cheaper,” Donald argued half-heartedly. Oswald chuckled behind his hand.

“No Donald,” Mickey said.

“Why do you have to make sure Pete doesn’t notice?” Betty asked curiously. And what was it that they didn’t want Pete to notice?  

Mickey chuckled. “There was an...incident at his restaurant. We’re helping Max fix it before he comes back to check in on the place.”

“Da meathead is a stickler for details, so Mick wants us to get it perfect,” Donald grumbled.

“C’mon Donald, Mickey’s always about getting things perfect,” Oswald said. That made me smile. Honestly, though. I could relate with that. 

Mickey blushed. “Guys!”

“But Max is sure thankful, so we best be quick,” Goofy said.

I looked at the bunny again. I was curious. But there wasn’t any point in asking. It would be rude, insensitive, not to mention...I thought of that squirrel kid, Steven. No. There was no point in asking. I was already doing what I could to help with the Ink Illness situation.

When they brought up the paint and speckling, I grinned at the mouse. “Good job with your show. I enjoyed it a lot the last time I went.”

Mickey grinned. “Aw gee, thanks!”

“Mickey always goes all out!” Betty added.

“Shucks, Mick is the reason we’ve gotten so popular the last couple of years!” Goofy said.

Mickey’s face glowed. “D’aww, you’re blushing,” Oswald teased. I hid a smile. Somehow, the rabbit was starting to remind me of that cat Sheba just a bit.

Mickey shook his head. “You all are ridiculous.”

Donald and Oswald grinned. Mickey quickly turned back to me. “Thanks. We best be going! Have a nice day miss--”

“May. Holly May. It was nice seeing all of you here.” I finished ringing them up and handed Mickey the receipt.

“Miss May.” Mickey grinned. “If you ever come by the circus, come visit! Any friend of Betty’s is a friend of ours.”

Donald whistled. “Wow, now _three_ girls!”

Mickey grimaced. “Donald!” I raised my brows. I had a feeling this was a running joke. The poor mouse.

Oswald and Donald chuckled and wiggled their brows at him. “Just ignore them.” Mickey shook his head.

I laughed, nodding. “I’ll be sure to say hi. Good luck with your paint.”

Mickey smiled. “Thank you. See ya Betty. Good bye, Holly!” Mickey and his group carried the bags of things out.

Betty stopped Oswald before he could get away. “It’s good to see you smiling, Oswald.”

Oswald blinked in surprise. His ears dropped. “Yeah,” he muttered. Betty gazed up at him sadly and gave him a tight hug before letting him go. Oswald returned the sad smile and headed out to catch up to his brother.  

When the door firmly shut behind them, I looked at Betty. “Is he the one who lost his wife?” I asked quietly.

Betty rubbed at her eyes. “Yes. It wasn’t that long ago. She was one of my closest friends. She would drop in for a cup of tea in my apartment up stairs once in a while. It got hectic with the kids and her job, and then, there was my hun and his jail time! Next thing I knew, Mick was telling me she was too sick to visit.” Betty sighed. “Ortensia Rabbit. You don’t meet many people like her. One in a million.”

Well, that had been a mood change. It made me take a moment to remember the reason why Boris and Bendy’s quest was so important. Ultimately, whether it was from Ink Illness or some other sickness, Ortensia had been taken from those she loved. The boys were trying to stop that sort of thing.

I looked at Betty. “I hope things get better for him from here on.”

The rest of the afternoon went slow. I helped stock the back, got to know Betty a little better, and finally left for home. When I was back, I got a call from Featherworth and Ringtail. They were warning everyone involved with the boys that Robert Sykes had disappeared after they’d approached the board for Toon Town Times about his activities.

I arrived at Alice’s apartment and collapsed on the couch. There was a veritable list of things I could do at this point. And all of them were important. I could translate the page Bendy had given me, which was very important in understanding the overall workings of the machine; do those tests on the ink I had taken from Wakko’s attack, this also could be important because the reactions might give us a clue as to how the illness worked; or go and try to find Alice, something that also might be very time sensitive, since her disappearance has been so sudden and...dramatic.

I hummed. The page could wait a bit. We’d need all the pieces before it truly came into play. Which left Alice or the experiments. I folded my arms. Letting out a long breath, I decided. The experiments could wait. The way Bendy had reacted when he heard what Alice had gone bothered me. There was something he found unsettling about the way she acted. I’d found it strange as well, but I’d only known her for a day, so I hadn’t been sure. Bendy had said that she used to work at a casino just outside of town. But what had it been called? I went to the phone and dialed Xedo. It rang for a moment before he picked up.

“Tiptail residence, Xedo speaking.” His calm voice came over the line.

I hesitated. “Hi Xedo. It’s Holly. I had a question for you.”

“What can I do for you Miss May?” Xedo asked.

“Do you happen to know the name of the casino that Alice used to work at?”

It took him a moment to answer. “No,” he finally said. “I’m afraid I don’t. I know that Bendy and Boris went there.”

“But they’re gone.” And I had missed a perfect chance to ask them. I gripped my arm, frustrated with myself. “Do you know if anyone else might know?”

“They’ve left already?” Xedo interrupted with that excitement that Holly was growing used to. “Is it another piece? I can’t imagine anything else pulling them away from Oddswell’s case in a couple of days.”

I gave a little laugh. “Yeah. The moment I finished my work with the map, it lit up with another piece. That was yesterday evening.”

“Goodness. Well, it’s good they don’t waste time,” Xedo said. “The only other people I think we know are the Warners. Last I heard, they are staying at Oddswell’s house with Mrs. Gopher.”

I drew in a breath. The Warners. I wondered for a second what had happened the day before yesterday when I had asked Yakko to meet me outside the courthouse. Not that it mattered at this point. If I had to ask them for information, this might get interesting. “Thanks for the tip, Xedo. I’d better get going over there, then.”

“Good luck Holly. If you need any help, please don’t hesitate to call,” Xedo said. “Oh and one more thing. You heard what happened with Mr. Sykes?”

“Robert Sykes?” I repeated quietly. “Yes. I heard he’s vanished.”

“Well, the head of the board heard about what happened to me and the rumor in the office that my story was the ‘scandal thing’ that sold more papers that week than anything they've done on a good month! They are calling me in about taking Sykes' position in the Toon Town Times,” Tiptail said.

I gasped. “Xedo! That’s amazing! You really deserve that position.” I grinned. “And now I can trust the news reported in at least one newspaper.”

He chuckled. “Indeed. Seems Mr. Foxworth is very put out that he allowed his company to fall so far. He is hoping that someone as ‘daring’ as myself can get it back to the jewel of the news it was supposed to be.”

“I have no doubt you will. And if you ever need me to spy on one of your reporters to make sure they’re behaving…” I gave a little laugh.

“I will be sure to call you.” He chuckled. There was a beat of silence, then his voice suddenly became serious again. “Hopefully, the coverage of the court case and the Ink Machine article I have ready will help the masses calm down about the Ink Illness mania. Hospitals are having a hard time identifying the real patients from the panicked hearsay.”

“Hmmm. Sounds like that would be a great place for you to start, Xedo. Get rid of the hearsay and let people know what the legitimate symptoms are.” I leaned back against the wall. So much was happening. Good news like this gave me hope.

“Agreed. Hopefully, I can keep a balance between giving them enough information to remain calm, but not so much that it puts Bendy and Boris’ mission at jeopardy,” Xedo stated. “Simple enough really.” His cheery tone was back. “Well, I best let you go. Good luck on finding Alice. If there is any trouble, let us know.”

“Most definitely,” I answered. “Good luck, Xedo.” I hung up the phone and ran a hand through my hair, looking at my watch. I grabbed a quick meal and headed out the door. I arrived at Granny’s a little while later and knocked on the door.

“Holly!” Granny opened the door. “How are you? It feels like forever since I’ve seen you.” She quickly ushered me inside.

I laughed. “I was actually here yesterday, but I think you were out. How are you Granny?”

“As chipper as ever! With all these lovely young folks around, I almost feel forty again!” Granny beamed. “Now, do you need anything to drink? Have you had supper yet?”

I waved a hand. “I’m fine. I got something at home before I came over. I was actually wondering if the Warners were still around here?”

Granny gave a devious smile. “Oh, they should be back any time now. I gave them errand to run. Dr. Scratchansniff needed a break. You are welcome to join me in the kitchen or wait in the front room if you prefer. There are some of the doctors books up there.”

The books instantly tempted me, but I also was curious about the work Granny did. “I’d love to help out. What are you doing in the kitchen? I was actually curious about the medicine you make.”

“Well, you’re in luck, I’m finishing a batch now,” Granny said.

My heart leapt a little, and I followed Granny into the kitchen

There, a huge pot sat on the stove. “Now, most of the ingredients are simply enough. Capsaicin for the ache. Glucosamine and chondroitin for the bones and joints. A number of other things I could jot down for you, lemon, and so on, but an important one it this.” She lifted a tiny vial she had on a chain around her neck. “One drop for every batch about this size. This is what the doctor is trying to turn into a cure.” It was clear, and looked a lot like water.

“What is it?” I studied the vial.

“Some kind of extract from from the illness,” Granny explained. “It’s not a virus, so developing antibodies is impossible, but he has been working with this. It seems to slow the growth of the pain, if not the attack entirely. Sadly, the doctor wanted to test it on Bendy, since he’s the most extreme and bizarre case the doctor has seen. That, and his nearly daily attacks would have shown results sooner.”

I looked up. “So, Oddswell makes this from the ink that comes off them when they have the attack?”

“Yes,” Granny said. “He is focused on two aspects of the illness. It’s original to work out a cure or at least a vaccine and how it spreads.” Granny shrugged. “Sadly, I don’t understand the process and my eyes aren’t what they used to be. I can only work with the supply he left until he gets back.”

I frowned at the liquid. “Did he tell you anything about the process?”

“A number of times.” She sighed. “It’s gone over our heads every single time. Red was able to figure out enough to help him, but there were points where even she was lost. It doesn’t help that it takes weeks to finish a sample.”

I let out a long sigh. Which meant that any chance of me making it was next to nothing. I was a linguist-historian, not a chemist. Once I performed all the tests I had in mind, I probably should give the rest of the ink I had to them, if it would be helpful to make this stuff. I hummed, disappointed. “How long is it until Dr. Oddswell’s trial again?”

“Three more days,” Granny said. “It’ll be nice to have him back.”

I thought about my experiences with Oddswell in his class and decided that Granny must be a very loving and tolerant person. “I’ll have to go watch.” I helped Granny do a little bit more work. I stirred the heavy pot as Granny added a couple of things and took out others. Leaves were removed and powders added. Then, we finished the batch and set it aside to cool. Once that was done, I settled into a chair with one of the doctor’s books. It was a rather dry text on the chemical makeup of plants in a place called the Wonderland Garden and why the plants act so different there. I had actually started to doze off when the door slammed. “GRANNY!”

“In the kitchen!” she called.

“What was that! You knew what you were sending us to and didn’t give us any warning!” Yakko complained.

“But you said you could handle it.” Granny feigned surprise. The edge of my lip twitched. The more I got to know this woman, the more I liked her.

“Yeah, but we hadn’t been expectin’ there to be so much talkin’.” Wakko collapsed on the couch in front of me.

“After the performance you three put on in the courtroom, I wouldn’t think a little talking would be a problem.” I put Oddswell’s book down.

“It was never ending!” Dot faked a faint and landed on top of Wakko.

I looked at Granny, who was standing in the doorway. “What did you send them to do?”

“I sent them to Mr. Dodo Do’s mansion,” Granny explained cheerfully.

“Who’s that?”

“A rather eccentric bird that recently developed an inky cough. He hasn’t had any pain yet, but he rather have them on hand then wait for it,” Granny explained. “He’s a cheery fellow, has a hundred and one tales to tell--”

“And he tries to tell you all of them in one sitting!” Yakko collapsed on the end of the couch that was still open. “It was ‘Alice this’ and “Cheshire that’ and ‘did you know I’m friends with the King of Hearts!’”

“Out of everyone, I would think you’d be able to handle a little bit of talking, Yakko.” I smirked, but then shuddered at the mention of the Cheshire Cat.

“I can! Usually I can out-talk the masses! I’ve out-talked kings and rulers, spokespeople and announcers! I’ve out-talked talkshow hosts! But those people from Wonderland are on a completely different level. Even when we tripped him up, he would just roll with it!” Yakko threw his arms up in the air. “I mean, if we were at our A game, we could’ve done something about it, but right now--Forget it.”

“Ah, that’s another thing.” Granny suddenly spoke up. She came into the room with a tray. There were five tall glasses of lemonade and a pitcher. She placed it carefully on the coffee table. “Oddswell is trying to understand why the illness affects some talents and why it doesn’t with others. Wakko is a good example.” She gestured to the boy. The three had sat up and took a glass each at the same time. They all gulped it down together. “The illness has completely erased it. He can’t use it at all.”

“Nope! It’s all just static now!” Wakko gasped after he finished and poured himself another drink. After he was finished, I poured myself a glass.

“But Bendy-boo’s is the opposite. He does his shadowy magic stuff and the ink junk gets crazier.”  Dot sipped her second glass that I didn’t notice her pour...If she poured. I didn’t put anything past her.

“Don’t ya mean his attacks get worse, sis?” Yakko pointed out. She shrugged.

Granny rubbed her chin. “Well, that’s an interesting way to put it, Dot. I’ll need to remember that.”

“Think I’m right?” She perked up.

“Sadly, I wouldn’t know. We’ll need the doctor to be sure.” Granny smiled.

“Uggggh.” Dot pulled at her face. “Like I’ve said a hundred times. Just let us go get him! Wave my hand and poof! He’s here!”

“No dear! We want his name cleared like the brothers’ were,” Granny wagged a finger at her.

“Then, they shouldn’t take so looooooong!” she whined.

“Unfortunately, all us sane people tend to need strange things like evidence and deliberation before we spit someone out of jail.” I scratched my chin. “Funny world.” Granny chuckled. All three of the siblings slouched in their seats.

“Everyone knows he’s a good guy by now. This is just wastin’ time,” Dot argued.

“Yeah, if I was his lawyer, he’d be out by now.” Yakko added.

“If you were his lawyer, the courthouse would have burned down by now,” Wakko pointed out.

Yakko sighed. “You send one judge into a nervous breakdown, and they revoke your license for life.”

I shook my head. “Speaking of potential nervous breakdowns, what happened to you three after the trial?”

“The judge had a few questions for us,” Wakko said.

“Turned into a visit to his...uuuuuuuuhhh, what should we call it? Mansion?” Yakko suggested. Obviously, counting on these three wouldn’t be a wise decision in the future. They were there when you didn’t intend them to be and weren’t when you did. Still, I couldn’t help but like them.

“Palace?” Dot asked.

“I would say maze and castle.” Wakko shrugged.

“Don’t forget the moat,” Dot said.

“Of course not!” Wakko shook his head. “We filled it with crocodiles, after all.” It was starting to sound like the judge’s home was even crazier than the Warners.

“Anyway, we went to visit the Queen of Hearts to talk about Ink Illness. Seems they’ve been dealing with it for a while, but since they were so zany…” Yakko trailed off and winked. “The judge was hoping that since we were zany enough to roll with them, but trusted by boring norms and the brothers, we could talk some sense into people.” Wakko and Dot chuckled.

“Us. Talk sense to people. Pfft!” Wakko laughed.

My eyebrows dropped. “Well, obviously that didn’t end up working out. I was also wondering, could any of you tell me which casino it was that Alice worked at?”

“Actually it did.” Dot crossed her arms and frowned. I raised a brow. Well, that had taken me by surprise.

“Yeah, the patients that the doctors are working with now are mostly Wonderlanders. They’re the only ‘for sure’ cases that are being observed.” Wakko shrugged.

“Yep, only the ones that hate hospitals are refusing to go, like that dodo brain.” Yakko tapped the top of his head. “And now the queen owes us a favor!”

I frowned. “Well, sorry to doubt you. Also sorry to hear that so many of the Wonderland people have gotten it. I wonder why them specifically?”

The three shared a look and shrugged. “Now, why are you asking about Alice’s ol’ workplace?” Yakko asked.

I folded my arms, mouth to one side. “The way she left was very strange. I just want to check up on her and see if she’s okay. And I learned from her letter to Bendy that she went back to her old workplace.”

That got me some confused looks. “Went back?” Wakko asked. “After everything that happened?” Another pang of worry went through me. That didn’t sound good.

“That is weird,” Dot muttered. “Maybe the pay is that good? Should I try to work there?”

Yakko frowned. “I smell a bad fish, and I ain’t talking about Granny’s cooking.”

“You better not be!” came Granny’s cheerful voice from the kitchen.

“Guys! It’s time for a gambling night!” Yakko stood up on the couch.

My eyes went wide, and I looked at the three of them. “What?”

“Yeah!” The other two jumped up.

“That’s not really what I--”

“Maybe, she’ll dance with me,” Wakko thought out loud. Dot rolled her eyes. The three spun and suddenly were dressed in evening wear, the boys in sharp suits and bow ties. Wakko was still wearing his hat, and Dot was in a sparkling flapper dress and headband with a flower in it.

I stood up, waving my hands back and forth. “I wanted to be subtle if there is trouble, and I don’t think that subtlety is your--”

Dot hopped down and stepped up to me. “What are you doing? You can’t go dressed like that!” She pulled me by the hand and suddenly the world was spinning. She stopped me and I wasn’t in the clothes I was wearing before. I stared down at myself in horror. Just what. Was. I. Wearing? It was a long, black, elegant dress that flowed around me like a waterfall. I felt satin underneath my fingertips. The tones were soft and complimented my figure and there was a splash of sequences that started at one of my hips and splayed out over the skirt of the gown. They looked like stars. The sleeves were short and made of the same flowy material as the skirt. I lifted a hand to feel the headband and feathers. There was also a diamond necklace around my neck with a matching bracelet. How had she done that?

“Yakko. Would you three listen for just one moment.” I raised a finger. “Please.”

The boys whistled instead. “Helloooooooo gorgeous!” My face went red. These boys…!

“Boys.” Dot rolled her eyes. “Ignore them.”

“Are you three causing Holly trouble in there?” Granny asked.

“No!” three voices answered.

“Yes!” I followed. Granny peeked in with a frown that quickly disappeared in a gasp of surprise.

“Oh my,” she breathed.

“Isn’t she the cat’s meow?” Dot asked with a grin. “We decided she needed a night out. What do you think Granny?”

“I don’t need a night out,” I huffed. “I need to blend in. I do my best when I blend in. How am I supposed to look for Alice with people _looking_ at me?”

She waddled up to me. “Well, you do look stunning, dear.”

“Babe, you don’t get it.” Yakko appeared beside me. “Where we’re going, this _is_ blending in. Unless you’re one of the staff, the place is ritzy as all get out.” Wakko and Dot nodded next to him.

“Oh man. That buffett is calling my name.” Wakko licked his lips.

I blinked. That had actually made perfect logical sense. Logic which I, unfortunately, couldn’t argue with. Applesauce. Yakko and his speech talent. He grinned like he knew he'd got me. “Okay. I’ll accept that,” I said with a sigh.

“Fabulous,” Dot said. “Then, let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  
> 
> Tap here! I love Holly! She is so precious! I hope the Warners don’t break her! She may learn more about zanies then she wanted! XD But hey! They’re helping in the hunt for Alice! That’s great, right...right?


	57. October 23, Sunday (Part Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Warners...looking for Alice. Well, I have to tell you, I did _not_ see this one coming. They sort of just inserted themselves into this...Also, I never realized how convenient Dot's yanking-you-to-another-place power was until now.

It was lucky that I chose that moment to pick up my bag because the next moment the world went into a blur as Dot suddenly pulled at the empty air beside her. The world turned, and I nearly lost my footing. Wakko caught me. The next time I looked up, we were in the lobby of the fanciest place I had ever seen.

We were standing at the base of a large staircase on soft, thick carpet. There was a giant chandelier hanging high above our heads, and I heard distant chatter coming from down a nearby hallway.

The lobby was a mix off staff and guests; staff, taking guest’s coats and leading them down hallways to destinations unknown; guests, flaunting their fine dresses and flashing gold and jeweled accessories like peacocks preening for sunlight to hit their feathers.

I was immediately hit with the hollowness of the place.

It was beautiful. I couldn’t deny that. But it wasn’t the beauty of a newly bloomed rose--pure, new, and rich with the pattern of petal folded underneath petal. No, this was an overwhelming beauty that shouted, that demanded to be noticed. In the moment that I stopped to gaze at the guests, it almost seemed desperate.

“Seems busier than last time,” Dot noted. I blinked and gave a little laugh inwardly. The Warners really had a talent of cutting through to the point.

“Who cares, where the grub?” Wakko demanded. He was already wandering off down a hall. Dot shook her head.

I frowned after him, shrugging. “Do you know where Alice worked when she was here?”

“Well, they had her on stage when we were here,” Yakko said.

“But Bendy mentioned that she was a bartender first,” Dot cut in. “I can’t imagine they’d want her on stage after what happened, so she’s probably back to mixing drinks.”

I nodded, peeking into a room. “Where is the bar, then?”

“This way.” Yakko waved with a frown to his sister. Dot simply lifted her nose in the air.

I couldn’t help but snicker. I thought it was interesting that there was such a mix of invincibility and immaturity in these three. I followed Yakko down the hall.

They would look into other rooms, but mostly stuck to leading me straight. We took a turn left by a bulletboard covered in posters and into a rather open room with a pool table in the center. Tables and booths sat around and to the left there was a bar. There, a deer was cleaning a glass. I blinked. Well. Not Alice. That’s for sure. The area wasn’t terribly busy either.

Yakko and Dot hopped up to the bar regardless. “Hey pal, we’re here to see Alice. Does she work this counter?”

The deer frowned. “I should have you removed for harassment, but it so happens that Alice quit a week or so ago.” I slid onto a stool, frowning. I kept quiet, allowing Yakko and Dot to continue to push the conversation along.

“Yeah, we heard,” Dot said.

“Seemed the boss called her back for something. She left in a flash and didn’t really tell us anything. We just wanted to check in with her.” Yakko smiled.

The deer raised a brow at them. “You’re friends of hers?”

“Ab-so-lutely, so you can understand our worry.” Yakko nodded.

He huffed and put down the glass. “Alright look, I don’t know if that’s true or not. I am going to hope you’re being honest with me. That dame was too nice for a place like this. She needs good friends that would come looking for her.” He crossed his arms and glared at Yakko. Funny, for some reason those antlers were looking a lot sharper all of a sudden. “Saying that, I was telling the truth. No one in the kitchens or here in the bar has seen her. If she’s back, it’s not in this part of the casino.”

Despite the deer’s straightforward tone, his words dug into my heart and stomach like shrapnel. It made me sick. Something _was_ wrong. Alice wouldn’t have lied about coming back here, would she? Then again, she was an angel, maybe she needed a good excuse to go and do something angelic. The moment that thought passed through my head a solution dropped on my head like a bucket of water. _My map!_ I could just open it up and see if she was here.

Quickly, I got up, jerking my head at Yakko and Dot. The two were watching me with interest, the deer with suspicion. “If she is back, can you three talk her into leaving again?” The deer suddenly spoke up. Dot blinked at that.

I stopped, giving the deer a serious look. “That’s exactly what we intend to do. Right Yakko? Dot?”

Yakko tilted his head. “Well yeeaaaaah, but why are you asking us to?” He pointed at the deer.

“Like I said, she’s too nice for this place. It was draining her. A lot of us here don’t really have a place to go if we lose our jobs. Alice is different. If she can go, she should. She could do some real good, but she will only drown here. None of us that have gotten to know her want to see that.” He shrugged.

Dot huffed. “We’ll get her and drag her out if we have to.” True to form, Dot pulled a long butterfly net from thin air to prove her point.

My eyes widened, and I couldn’t help but snort. “C’mon Dot. You and me need to take a visit to the lady’s room.” Dot blinked. She frowned with apparent annoyance and gestured for me to lead the way.

When we got inside, I locked the door behind us, catching one last glimpse of Yakko’s curious expression. I put my bag down and rummaged through it, At last, I pulled my map from this notebook and spread it out on a tasteful little table to one side of the room. “Ready to find Alice?” I said, grinning at Dot. She raised a brow and looked at the map. Currently it showed a detailed rendition of the casino, as well as a little bit of the woods nearby.

“I thought that was why we came. What’s this about?” Dot waved a gloved hand at my map.

“Just a little magic to help us along.” I put my fingers over the runes at the bottom of the map and sent my energy into them, activating the map. The piece of paper lit up, blowing a bright blue that now reminded my of Bendy and Boris’ map. For a moment, it blinded me, but then the map came to life and little markers appeared all over it, moving about. I looked for the golden one. Where was she? Was she really here--. I stopped and stared. Just what was going on? That couldn’t be right? Right?

There were three markers.

Two were out in the woods, and one was in the back of the casino.

I opened my mouth and closed it. Then, I looked at Dot. “Do you know what’s going on?” I said with confusion. There were _three_ angels here? Maybe Alice really was on angelic business. I squinted at the map, frowning again.  

“You have the brightest map since El Dorado?” Dot guessed. Her eyes sparkled.

I pointed at the markers. “Those are supposed to be--” I managed to stop myself right before saying angels. No. That was not mine to share. No. Nonononono. I took note of the angel at the back of the casino and rolled up the map. Might as well start with that. If it wasn’t Alice, then we could go take a trip to the woods. “C’mon. Let’s go. One of those golden markers is Alice, so we need to check out all three.”

Dot narrowed her eyes for a second, then gave me a huge smile. “Alrighty! That should be easy! C’mon! Let’s get my brothers.” We exited the bathroom quickly. Yakko was having a drink with a pair of women in a booth. Dot groaned.

For a split second, I considered just leaving him there, but then I let it go. I sighed. This place felt...off. And the more people we had to work this out, the better. No one could ever deny the power of the Warners.

Dot marched past him and grabbed his pant leg. He was dragged out of his seat with a _oof!_ The women gasped. Point to him though, he kept acting smooth even as Dot was dragging him away across the carpet. “No worries ladies! So, let me know if Saturday can work! Don’t forget that smile...There it is!” He winked. The women giggled again.

“C’mon casanova,” Dot growled.

Once Dot had dragged him into the hall, we updated him on what had happened. Although, at this point, I was starting the get the impression that the boys had simply come to the casino to enjoy themselves rather than look for Alice. Yakko seemed onboard at least. It took us a minute to find Wakko. When we did, it was next to two piles of plates. One was a mess and empty, the other was a tower of food. He went through food like a factory line!

“C’mon, bro! We have a hit on our Alice radar,” Yakko said.

“And it seems fishy,” Dot added.

“Fish?” Wakko muttered around a whole roast in his mouth and lifted a plate of fish.

Yakko chuckled. “Good one.”

“C’mon, you two are wasting time,” Dot said. Once Wakko was finished with his plate, I led them down a hallway, picturing the map in my head. We passed a theater room, a dance room, and a number of gambling rooms before we hit an ‘employee’s only’ door.

I tapped my lip and frowned. I glanced at Dot. “You couldn’t rummage us up some uniforms, could you?”

Dot grinned mischievously. “Oh, I can do that.”

I think I blinked. Next thing I knew, all four of us were in staff uniforms except Wakko. He was in a black suit and tie. I raised my brow. Dot patted Wakko on the shoulder. “Thought we could use a ‘bodyguard’ back there.”

“Why not me? I can convince people,” Yakko said.

“You've flirted enough tonight.” Dot lifted her nose and stepped through the door. With that, the rest of us followed her through the door and I continued to lead them with the map in my head.

We got a few looks from passing staff, but no one stopped us. They all seemed too busy. I tried my best to look confident and keep moving forward with purpose. I considered my Fade bracelet, but I only had one--and even a Fade bracelet wouldn’t be good enough to hide one of the Warners anyways. I took a breath in. This was the reason I hadn’t wanted them to come. Although, at this point, I wasn’t sure whether or not I had been wrong.

We finally reached the door that was just beyond where I had seen the marker. I hesitated for a moment, a unexplainable fear suddenly running through me. Then, I pushed it open gently, peeking inside.

There, a woman sat on a chair in the corner of the room. There were boxes around the room, some open, others not. Furniture and such was also scattered about. “Ugh. This is such a pain. Why do we have to try and fix these things? If he wasn’t so cheap, we could get new ones!” the woman complained. Her back was to us. I frowned. That didn’t sound particularly Alice-like, but just to be sure, I scanned the room for anyone else inside.

No one was there. The woman huffed and turned around. Before I could pull back, she spotted me. “You! Are you here for the shelves? Of course you are! Stop gawking and get in here!” she snapped. Her face was a touch odd. She didn’t have a nose, and her large eyes were close set. Her frown was beak-like. She was an angel? Her makeup seemed a little thick too. She was very pear shaped. Not that I had any deep knowledge on angels, but she wasn’t what I imagined an angel would be like. I imagined something more like...Alice. I walked in slowly, waving at the others behind me to go away.

“It _took_ you long enough. I was thinking I would have to walk all the way back to the second floor myself!” she said. She walked to the other side of the room, pushed a bedside table over and kept going. It clacked loudly on the floor. “With Willen and Alice on shift, I’m here alone! Anyone else has been absolutely useless.”

I nodded. “Sorry for the wait, ma’am.”

“Well you’re here now,” she dismissed. She got on her toes and reached into a long box that sat on top of a set of boxes. “So, come here and get these, would you?” She lifted a wooden shelf out of the box and pulled it out. It was going to fall!

I stumbled forward and grabbed it as it started to come down, barely managing to get and keep a grip. Grunting with effort, I lowered it to the ground to get a good hold and better inspect it. “Now, these two go to room three-o-one and the two underneath it to one-twenty. Then, you can come back and help me with this bath rug. Some wise guy dumped a glass of wine on it, and I have been having a _time_ trying to get it out.”

I nodded mutely, waiting for her to finish talking so I could get out of here as soon as possible. I lifted the shelf. And, oh applesauce, it was heavy!

“Hopefully, Willen or Alice will get back first. With your arms, you’ll be here all night with those shelves.” The woman sighed and rolled her eyes.

“Yes ma’am.” I nodded, heading quickly towards the door. So, the other two were definitely outside. Did that mean the other angel was called...Willen?

“Want me to take that?” Dot asked the moment I was out the door.

“Yes, please,” I gasped quietly. Dot giggled and easily took the shelf before turning.

“So, I’m guessing that isn’t Alice in there,” Wakko said.

“Nah, but she sure sounded charming,” Yakko chuckled.

I laughed with him as we moved back through the maze of employee doors. “You got that right.”

“So, where to next? Where’s door number two?” Yakko asked.

“They were out in the woods the last I checked, but it’s worth looking again,” I murmured as we reached the main hall, looking for a bathroom. I went in without the boys. Dot was waiting for me there. The shelf was gone. She sat on the counter swinging her legs back and forth.

I rolled out the map beside her and activated the rune once more. The two points were still in the woods and the one in the back. The two were still in the woods, though they weren’t as close as they had been before. One was moving back toward the casino. I bit my lip. “Okay. Out towards the woods it is.” I looked at Dot. She pulled a face, but nodded. I kept the rune active as I rolled up the map. If one of them was moving, then it would be smart to double check later.

The two of us rejoined the boys outside the bathroom and headed for the casino’s exit. The gardens were lit in twinkling lights. Beyond them, the trees of the woods were dark and ominous. Oh great. The sun had set.

“Anybody got a flashlight?”

“Torch?” Wakko pulled out a fire torch.

“A light?” Yakko offered a lighter.

“Flashlight?” Dot stood up with a headlight and offered me a flashlight.

I shrugged, lips twitching. I loved these three. “Thanks, Dot.” It took a minute to get through the garden, and then we were in the dark woods. The moon was gone tonight, so it was extra eerie as we walked in silence.

Bushes shifted, leaves rustled, a branch snapped. “The night life sure is lively tonight,” Yakko chuckled. The Warner’s stuck together closely, looking around the densely packed trees nervously. “So how far are they?”

“And why would she be out here?” Dot wrinkled her nose.

I shrugged. “I don’t know.” I pulled out the map and checked. “One of them is not much farther in here.” I just prayed it wasn’t Willen. We kept walking. The gold symbol grew closer. Closer. Whoever it was should be right in front of them! I looked up and—

Nothing.

No one was there.

I choked, stopping, scanning the area, and listening.

The only thing I could hear was the wind in the leaves. “I’m guessing you stopped because they should be here,” Yakko said.

“Uh…?” Could angels turn invisible? I looked at the map again.

“That’s a yes,” Wakko said.

“Then we split,” Dot said and like clockwork each Warner turned and walked into the trees. In five minutes, they were back. “Anything?”

“Nope,” Wakko said.

“A frog, but that was it,” Yakko said.

Dot sighed. “No hidden doors in the trees? Trapdoors under a bush?”

“Nope,” the boys said.

I looked down at the map again. “Then, let's try the last one at least…”

“Hey, we’re just saying if it’s not here it’s either above us or below us, and unless Alice can fly, my money is on a basement.” Wakko shrugged.

I stared at Wakko for a long moment. Fly?! That was it! I looked up, scanning the sky. I glanced at the map. Was the angel still near? Horse feathers! It was already nearly at the casino.

Wakko blinked. “What did I say?” I grit my teeth. Would it be better to go after that one or back into the woods? If that one went to the demanding angel, there was no way I could approach them.

“What do you guys think of splitting up?”

They shared a look before all three saluted me. “Don’t worry ma’am! You can count on us!” Dot proclaimed.

I grinned. “Okay!” I showed them the map. “Boys.” I pointed at the mark far into the forest. “Will you go looking for this one? And Dot, can you do what you did before and take us back to the casino entrance?”

“Yi-yi gorgeous!” Yakko said and turned toward the dark.

“Wait up!” Wakko called after him.

“Sure.” Dot nodded. She reached to her side and the world spun again. I stumbled into a wall, catching myself this time. I really needed to learn to keep my feet in the future. We were back in the main hall. Dot and I ducked by some other guests and  stood in a little indentation between the stairs and the wall. I looked at the mark.

It was with the other one in the back of the casino. I sighed. Too slow. I glanced at Dot. But maybe. “She’ll recognize me and get mad.” I smiled at Dot. “But she hasn’t seen you. How do you feel about going back to that room and checking if Alice is there?”

Dot winked. “Let’s go.” She walked with purpose down the hall.

It took a few minutes, but we made it back to the room from before. She winked at me, and I caught a distinct glimpse of terrible mischievousness in her eyes before she opened the door and sashayed in like she owned the place.

I gulped. What sort of horrible incident had I just incited…? The door was thick, and it was hard to make out much of what they said. I leaned against the door and tried to think through all of the runes that I knew that might help me listen in on the conversation. Finally, I gave in and simply pressed my ear against the hinge of the door.

I could make out the woman’s unpleasant voice, but not what she said.

“Sorry, sorry,” Dot said. “It’s insane up there. She got dragged away, but told me to come in to help.”

A male voice answered her.

“Well, sure you can help me, handsome. You can help me anyway you want.” Her voice became flirtatious.

The guy sounded uncertain after that.

“Oh! And have either of you seen Alice around?” I flinched. That wasn’t a good idea! “The front had something for her, can’t remember what--”

She was cut off by the woman.

“Sorry! Golly-gee lady, what crawled up your skirt and died?” Dot huffed. Oh no.  

“ _What did you say to me!”_ the woman shrieked. There was a crash and the sound of wood breaking. I backed away from the door. No. Nope. This was going very badly. Yen Sid, Dot! There were more noises of destruction and something that sounded like a boat horn. Dot was laughing.

At this point, I decided that staying near the scene of the crime would be a _bad_ idea. I started to retreat down the hall. And now before you criticize me, reader, this is _Dot_ we’re talking about. I didn’t have a single speck of worry about her getting out of there. As for the other people in the room? Well, they were angels. They would survive.  

I was right too. Dot appeared from around a pillar a few minutes later. She seemed quite pleased with herself. I sighed at her, not even bothered by the fact that she was grinning proudly. “Take us to the woods?” The other voice had been male. Not Alice. Willen?

“Sure thing!” Dot said and hopped to the side. The world seemed to spin faster than it did before. Despite my earlier determination, this time I literally spun in a circle and managed to run myself into a tree branch a moment later. My vision when white, and I fell back. “Oops! I think I did that with a little more excitement than I meant to. Are you okay?”

I started to laugh, putting an arm over my face for a moment. “Dot, have I ever told you that two of you are way too many?” My vision was doing splits. After a moment it passed, and I sat up. “I’m fine.”

“What are you talking about? There can only be one as amazing as I,” Dot preened.

I put my hand to my mouth. “Quite right.” I got up and dusted myself off. “How close are we to the boys? And what exactly did you do in there to make that woman so mad?”

“This way.” Dot waved. “And I just asked about Alice! She bit my head off about her doing some work for the boss or whatnot. She was really rude about it.” Dot pulled a face. “So, I taught her a humbling lesson.”

I frowned. “Maybe we shouldn’t mention Alice around them then.” I jerked up as Dot’s words registered. “...Taught her a lesson?”

Dot blinked. “Why? I thought we were asking about her. The deer guy was nice enough to help.”

“The deer guy wasn’t an--” Applesauce. I swallowed the word again. “Interested party. Maybe they have something to do with her leaving.”

Dot narrowed her eyes. “That’s the second time you’ve done that. Is there something I should know?”

I shook my head. “If it was something that I could share, I would.” 

Dot smirked. “Oh, so it’s Alice’s secret?” Dot snickered. “You know that she’s terrible with secrets, right?”

I shrugged. “If you say so. I’m just happy that we know this one is her. You can ask her when we get there.”

Dot nodded and faced toward the trees again. “Uh-huh. I don’t need to ask the wannabe angel nothin’. It’s you that has the questions.”

I gaped at her. “What?”

Dot burst into laughter. “Your face!”

“Wha--” Was this some sort of trick? “Angel?”

“Oh _please!”_ Dot rolled her eyes and snickered. “We’re the Warners. You think we haven’t messed with angels before? They are easy. A lot of them are stuck up know-it-alls that want to marry the rules...Well, the old ones are.”

Well, that completely ruined my image of angels. I was happy Alice wasn’t like that though. “How did you know?” I asked and started to walk.

“Because,” she snickered again. “We tried to break into the Sanctuary once. We did have fun messing up the Upper, but I have to say, that Sanctuary is one tough nut to crack.” She looked to me with a gleam in her eye. “Alice is a new kid on the block. She hasn’t even gotten her wings yet, so she’s probably here to prove herself, unless she’s really gotten into some trouble.”

“Prove herself? Wings? What does that mean?”

“Angels earn their wings. They do good deeds down here to prove that they are worthy of them or something like that.” Dot shrugged. “I think it’s a bunch of oowee.”

I frowned. That was interesting. I’d never heard of that before. Why would they need to do that? “Then, shouldn’t she already have wings? She’s saved Bendy and Boris multiple times.”

Dot shrugged. “I think it’s some specific. Like I said, it’s a bunch of angel ooweee. They are so strict about it.” Dot rolled her eyes. “I think those other two are either on a mission or maybe they’re fallen.”

“Hmmm.” My frown deepened. Just what did an angel have to do to prove themselves, then? I blinked at Dot. “Fallen?” Just then, I heard the sound of Yakko’s voice.

“BAAAAH!” Yakko shrieked. Dot and I rushed into a small clearing. There were Yakko and Wakko.

“BAHAHA!” Wakko fell on his back and burst into laughter.

“What happened?” Dot asked.

“A frog scared Yakko!” Wakko wheezed.

“It startled me!” Yakko went rod straight and pointed a warning finger at Wakko.

I wasn’t sure how to react, so I just stood there and watched at Wakko continued to mock Yakko, running around as his older brother chased him. I tilted my head after a moment. “Did you two find Alice?”

They both stopped at my words. “Nope! Nothing. It’s just trees and bushes out here.”

“And frogs,” Wakko added. Yakko thumped him on the head. “Ow!”

“Why is this so complicated?” I muttered under my breath. Pulling my map out for what felt like the thousandth time, I took a look. Uh. She should be in this field, but there wasn’t anything around. The two golden markers were still inside the casino, but the third had vanished.

After this, there wasn’t much more the four of us could do. It’s not like we could wander the woods all night looking for her. (Well, we did a little because I thought she might have gone farther in the woods out of coverage of the map, but even after another hour of wandering, her marker didn’t reappear on the map.) Dot took us back into town, and I collapsed in _Alice’s_ apartment. I felt more than a little chagrined at that fact. I wish she had never given me the apartment, if only she had stayed, because now I am more worried than ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tap here! Beware the Warners. They will take over a chapter and the whole story if they are aren't kept in check. Still, they had fun. Poor Holly, wonder what she'll do now. It'll be interesting how to see how much Holly will be able to figure out before the questers get back. I'll just leave it up to her. Whether she gets more info or none at all will completely be up to Mercowe's writing and Holly's investigation. I'm kinda excited to see where Toon Town goes while the boys are away. ;3


	58. October 24, Monday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I meant to post this on Sunday. Then my life exploded because I had to go get some stuff I'd left behind when I moved. 
> 
> Then, I meant to post this on Monday. At this point, I was kidnapped and forced to go to a strange ritual involving dressing up and moving around a gym floor awkwardly while music played. I barely managed to escape with my life, so I forgot to edit it on Monday as well, unfortunately. (Tap can attest to this, I texted her when I escaped.) :D 
> 
> Anyways, that's my excuse. However, with Tap's help, I am about three journal entries ahead, so I won't be late for at least that long. I hope you enjoy the entry. Lots of things are about to happen in the future, so I'm excited!

My day at Betty’s was mostly mundane. We had two more famous people come in today. I wasn't really in a paying attention sort of mood, so I didn't really catch their names. I kept on thinking back to last night. The rest of it was just muscle memory. Take the customer’s items, ring them up, bag it. Repeat. Open boxes, put item on shelves. Repeat. Pick up broom, sweep the floor. Repeat. Betty is a really nice gal though. I grilled her for more information on Alice as we worked since I only knew her for a _day_ before she disappeared. I didn’t learn much. Alice had been very guarded about her life, although she’d always been open about her kind, confident personality.

It was _mostly_ mundane.

That is, until Betty’s boyfriend showed up.

“Betty babe!” A short dog came crashing through the door. “Guess who’s home!”

Betty gasped. “Bimbo!”

Bimbo? I watched closely from my perch behind the register.

Betty came rushing out of the back with a big grin, but stopped short. Her smile dropped. “And hold the phone here! Did you walk out or did you break out? Do I needs ta worry ‘bout the coppers showing up again?” She shook a finger at the dog in the sweater. Again? I blinked at the dog. Just what had this dog done? He didn’t seem that like the type of fellow who could break out of...I was obsessed with figuring out how a _pair of cups_ could be assassins. What right did I have to criticize a pint sized dog being involved in crime? *Sigh*

Bimbo’s eyes widened. “What? Dem? Showin’ up here? Nnnaaaaah! I’m coming home clean, babe! Would I ever put you in that kinda trouble?” This had obviously been the wrong thing for Bimbo to say because although I had no idea who this guy was or what their past was together, even I could tell what her answer would be.

Betty winked an eye shut and glared at him. “Three times.” Whammy!

“Oh.” Bimbo dropped his head in shameful realization. “Babe, I am so sorry.” Did he really think she would say anything else? I looked at Betty. Good girl.  

Betty rolled her eyes. “Well, if you’re being plain with me, then this is great news!” I clicked my tongue thoughtfully, watchin. I really hoped that this didn’t end badly for Betty. But then again, I guess I wouldn’t understand. I’d never really felt passionate about anyone, and if there was anything I had learned about Betty in the last three days, it was that she was passionate about her dog. Said dog looked up with a bright grin. “And if not, I will hand you over so fast your tail will spin.” I’m gonna be honest. That shocked a laugh from me. Yep. I like Betty.

Bimbo let his jaw drop in surprise before he grinned and chuckled. “Well, there’s the fire I love. Man, I’ve missed ya Betty!” Was it just me or was there a bit of sweat on his forehead now?

“I’ve missed you too, suga! Come here.” Betty held out her arms. Bimbo stepped forward and gave her kiss.

“So, what have you been up to out here? Jail was borin’ ‘cept that one break in. Can you imagine? _Breaking_ into jail?” Bimbo shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Some people. And I saw the whole thing too! Can’t quite remember what the fella looked like though.” The dog scratched his head. I blinked. That had been the guy that was looking for the boys, right?

“It’s been mostly the same here,” Betty said. “Mickey was by the other day.” Bimbo pulled a sour face. “Oh now," she said, "none of that! He is a swell man!”

“Him and his rotten brotha stolen ma show,” Bimbo grumbled. What did that mean? Wait. Did that mean this guy knew Mickey and the others too? I searched my memory and came up with a blank. Had I’d ever seen a dog like him in the Fantasia Circus?

“You got arrested. They still had to feed themselves.” Betty shook her head. “Are you mad at me for still running the shop with you gone?”

“Of course not, babe! You’ve been a dream!” Bimbo pulled back and lifted his hands in a stopping motion. “But those rodents ran off to tour the country without me! They even went with my best mate, the traitor! They all ran off and got famous without me!”

Betty waved her hands back and forth. “All water under the bridge, Bimby! The only reason you two aren’t talking is because of your ridiculous pride!” The dog huffed at her words and Betty frowned. “Let’s not get into this today.”

Bimbo steamed for a moment before nodding. “So, you have anything on those Bbros? They were all the buzz in the slammer. Heard the demon even knocked a schmuck’s teeth out for smartin’ off about his gal.” Bimbo winked. I immediately frowned. I didn’t like the idea of this guy fishing for info about those two. He smelled shady. I bet if he walked underneath the runes at the college he’d be in for a real chill.

Betty’s face softened. “They’re really nice actually.”

“Ya met dem!” Bimbo grinned. “Oh, of course! My dove is a magnet for the famous!” Betty blushed.

“Well, yes.” She smiled. “Like I said. They’re swell young men. You got to see the trial?”

“‘Course. Had nothin’ else to do in there.” Bimbo put his hands on his hips.

Betty nodded. “That’s how they are. Noble, brave, respectful, and so on.”

Bimbo whistled. “So, they really were wrong place, wrong time.”

“Oh ab-so-lutely,” Betty agreed quickly.

“Well.” Bimbo shifted. He seemed a bit nervous about something. “They still in town?” Something curled inside me, an inkling of worry. Why was he so interested in asking around about them?

Betty’s smile fell. “I...don’t know, hun. Why?”

Bimbo looked to the shelves before turning back to her. “Ya know how I...or probably better if it’s you, can get in contact with them?”

Betty furrowed her brows. “Is there something wrong?”

Bimbo looked around, and his eyes landed on me. “Hold the phone. Who’s this?”

I was sure now. I didn’t like this guy. I simply looked at him. I couldn’t help it. I didn’t smile. “Holly May,” I said automatically. “Betty’s assistant. I assume you’re Bimbo, the owner, then?”

Bimbo nodded. “Pleasure.” He winked and turned back to Betty. “She clean to keeping?” Again. What was the meaning of that?

Betty turned to me with a pucker of her lips. “I think she can keep a secret. She’s a good person...Oh, what’s this all about, Bimby?”

Multiple, apparently. “What’s going on?” I asked as well.

Bimbo sighed. “Word in the system is that those B-boys got under the skin of some very scary people. If they are in town, they should get out while they can.”

No surprise about any of that. I let out a breath. Just another reason I was glad the next piece had shown up so quickly. “Oh dear!” Betty gasped.

He crossed his arms. “It was a good thing they got out of the system when they did. Rumor had it there was an reward for ganking them. And it sounded like a heavy one too!”

I put my head on my hand, elbow resting on the desk. “Why are you asking about them then?”

He lifted two fingers. “Two reasons. One, ta warn them. Red is a pal of ours, and he and his brother are trying to help get her out of the system with that bug eyed doctor.” Bimbo suddenly turned to Betty. “By the way, she wishes you well babe.” Betty smiled.

I blinked. Oh. He wanted to help. I guess I had misjudged this guy. I relaxed a little, smiling this time. After everything that had happened, apparently I was suspicious of everyone. I guess considering how tough Betty was, she wouldn’t choose a guy that would be involved with the likes of the Sykes. I felt a little embarrassed now.

“And two, I had a bet.” Bimbo grinned.

Betty frowned and smacked his shoulder. “Bimbo!”

He chuckled shamelessly. “What? I won, if that means anything! I was betting they really were the goodie-two-shoes they seemed to be!”

Betty shook her head. “You’re terrible!”

“What? I was being nice compared to what some of the other bets were!” Bimbo said.

I smiled. “It’s nice to know that at least some people have confidence in them.”

Bimbo snorted. “You kidding? I’m the only one that took that side. I’m gonna get the whole pot!” He laughed. “No one else thinks that demon is any sorta good news. ‘Course we’re talking about a bunch a drunks and thugs.” Betty frowned and glared at him.

I waved a hand. “It doesn’t matter what they think anyways. Those boys are determined. They’ll be fine.” I hoped. Bendy was tough though. If anyone could last through Ink Illness, he could.

Bimbo grinned. “A good demon, wish I can meet him someday. Hey babe think he’d--”

“Don’t you finish that thought, Bimby. You just got out of the slammer.” Betty waved a warning finger at him. Bimbo sucked in his lips to silence himself and nodded.

I leaned back in silence. “If you want to spend some time with Bimbo, I could mind the shop by myself for a while,” I finally said to Betty. Betty pulled a surprised face. Her painted lips made a little ‘o’.

“You wouldn’t mind?” she asked.

Bimbo grinned. “Hey, good idea. I like this gal! Whadda say, babe? Shall we go get lunch?”

I smiled. “I wouldn’t mind. Go ahead and have fun.” If it got quiet, it would give me a private moment to do a little translating.

The two grinned and thanked me again before heading out. After they left, by some miracle, it did get pretty quiet in the store, and I pulled out the page. I’d brought a book just in case this happened, so I pulled it out as well and started to look at the references inside it.

The night was quiet, and I made a some progress with the translation, but my heart really wasn’t in it. My thoughts kept of going back to Alice and how that last marker had just _disappeared_ . Was I wrong? Had she gone somewhere else? Was that person just another random angel? I closed my eyes and thought. No. That first angel had said _Alice_ and Willen had been on duty. The question was, what had they been on duty for? I frowned, watching the clock. I was going back tonight. I was going to go to that area on the map they’d been wandering in and I would see what I could find. And I was going to continue going back every night until I found Alice.

I had made a bit of progress with the page before Betty got back. It was time for the shop to close, so we locked up the doors, and I said goodbye to Betty. When I got back to my apartment, I cooked up a quick dinner and started to put on the dress Dot had...made last night? After all the running around last night, I hadn’t even realized I was still in the dress by the time I got back into the apartment. Although, a couple stares should have clued me in. My food done, I went to the phone on the wall and dialed Granny’s. A moment later, the phone picked up.

“Hello, this is Dr. Oddswell’s house,” Granny’s voice said pleasantly.

“Hi Granny. It’s Holly. How are you?”

“I’m doing grand dear,” Granny said cheerfully. “The children told me how your little trip went. I’m sorry you couldn’t find her.”

I couldn’t help but grimace. They had told Granny? It was honestly...strange having other people around talking about how good or bad things had gone. It was different. Actually, sort of nice. “Well, we’re planning on trying again tonight. Hopefully things go better. Are they there?” I crossed my fingers. Hopefully.   

“I think they are planning to drop by. I saw Dot in a lovely dress this evening,” Granny said.

Suddenly the phone was out of my hand. “Don’t worry Granny, we’re already here,” Yakko said. “Uh-huh, uh-huh, we will. Love you too. Bye.” He hung up.

I would have scowled, if it would have made a difference. But with these three...I shook my head, smiling...It didn’t. So I just put my hands on my hips. “Ready as I am for this, then?”

“You are a knockout!” Wakko said with hearts in his eyes.

This time I did scowl, difference or not. “I’m wearing the exact same thing I wore yesterday, Wakko.”

“And your beauty hasn’t changed,” Yakko said with a wink.

Dot suddenly yanked their ears. “Ow! Owowow!” They both cried.

Dot looked at me with a deadpanned gaze. “Boys,” she sighed.

I nodded with her. “Boys. You ready to go?”

“Positively!” Dot grinned.

“Then what are we waiting for?” Yakko ducked out of his sister’s hold. Dot reached over, and once again the world spun until it straightened out.

 _This time_ I didn’t fall. I wobbled a bit, but I am proud to say that I stayed on my feet. We were just in front of the casino, near the woods. In the distance I saw the sun setting. Opening the map, I activated the runes and took a look.

This evening, there was one light in a back hallway, one in the same room they had gone to before, and the third was heading into the woods. There was something really fishy about the way they all kept on heading out into the woods. Maybe we would finally find Alice when we figured out what that was all about. I glanced at the Warners. “I say we head toward this one.” I pointed on the spot on the map moving into the woods. “But we just follow them, try not to show ourselves.”

“But we wandered all over those trees and didn’t see anything,” Wakko whined.

“We didn’t look up.” I pointed toward the sky. “But if you want, you could go check out the one in the hall,” I added, raising a brow.

“Sounds like a plan ta me.” Wakko grinned and stuck his tongue. “Can we stop by the buffet on the way there?”

“No.” I didn’t want this kid any more distracted than he already was. “Only after you make sure it isn’t Alice. After that, you can, if you come tell us.” Would he accept that? I tensed. I wasn’t sure.

He pouted, tongue still out but marched off anyway. My thought at that moment? I had just witnessed a miracle.

Yakko shrugged and followed him. Dot rolled her eyes, but just gestured for me to step close. Then I was in the woods again. The night was cold, but at least it wasn’t raining. I checked the map. We were about fifty feet behind the mark on the map. I exchanged a look with Dot, and we crept forward quietly, scanning the sky and the ground periodically. We neared the spot. There wasn’t anything there. I checked the map again, looking up and down. The mark was right here...Unless it really was underground.

Dot frowned. “Well that’s annoying. Ready to play super spy?”

I bit my lip. “Yeah? Take us down?” Maybe?

Dot grimaced and laughed. “I would, but uh, ya see, I kinda need to know where I’m going. And, uh, well, I have no idea how far down or what is there or anything so…” She shrugged.

I nodded. I had...a small idea. I pulled out the map, frowning at the runes. If I added a earth rune...would it make a difference? Could it give us a peek _down_? We had to try. I added the symbol to the bottom of the page and activated the spell.

The map remained the same. Apples!

I stood up suddenly. “Let’s go back.” If we couldn’t go in this way, then there were a couple more possibilities. There had to be an entrance. If it wasn’t around here, then there must be one in the casino. And there always seemed to be a dot in that one room. If we followed them...

“Alright,” Dot said. “I just hope we aren’t running around everywhere like last night.” They appeared in a long hall lined with doors. The boys were looking at the doors like they were about to start knocking.

Yakko was pointing door to door. “Eany-meany-miney-moe, pick a--”

“What are you doing?” Dot asked. What were they doing?

“These seem to be like dorm rooms or somethin,’ and we don’t know which one to pick,” Wakko said.

I glanced at the map. There was a point in a room three doors down on her right. I pointed at the door. However, before Yakko opened the door I slipped on my Fade bracelet, just in case. He knocked. Waited. Knocked louder. Waited. The three shared a look. Then, they all started beating the door. This, dear reader, is one reason why you do not take the Warners anywhere you want to keep a quiet presence...

Alice swung the door open. I blinked. “Goodness, is something the--You three!” she gasped. She looked pale, exhausted, and sickly.

“Alice!” I ripped off the bracelet and went to the door. Alice jumped and looked at me in confusion.

“Uh? Holly? Where did you come from?” She blinked a couple times.

“Back there.” I threw my thumb in a general direction behind me, avoiding the question. “Are you okay?” My heart tightened at her appearance. They were doing something to her. I knew it.

“I’m fine. Why are you here?” She leaned against the doorframe. She was in a comfortable looking nightgown.

“You sure? I think I could park a car on the bags under your eyes girl,” Dot said pointedly.

Alice frowned. “I just caught a bug. That’s why I have the night off.” She waved away the concern.

It was my turn to frown. “Well..everyone’s worried about you, Alice. You just disappeared into thin air. Not to mention you snuck out and left in the middle of the night. Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I left a note.” She sighed and crossed her arms in front of her. “It was important, something I needed to get done before I get back to everything in the city.”

She seemed...really guarded. “Can I help?”

She sighed, and her shoulders dropped. “No, no. Thank you for offering, but like I said, I _need_ to do this.”

Yakko frowned. “It isn’t anything illegal or worrisome is it?”

Alice furrowed her brows. A look of worry crossed her face. “No, of course not.”

I hesitated. “Alice. Don’t think you need to do this alone. You know what I said before you left? About you jumping that window? I figured out...how you could do that. I just want to help.”

Alice blinked and froze for half a second. Then she loosened up and giggled. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh please honey, you are the most obvious angel I’ve ever seen.” Dot waved a hand. It's so useful to have Dot around to say the things directly that I don't want to. 

“Well there were those chira--things,” Wakko lifted a finger. I blinked at him. Chira-things?

Alice’s eyes grew huge. She looked up and down the hall before grabbing all of us in a strong grip and pulling us into her room. She quickly locked the door and leaned against it with a sigh. She had turned even paler. “How do you know!” she demanded when she opened her eyes again.

“It’s obvious that only an angel could be this beautiful,” Yakko said. Alice frowned.

“Apparently, they’ve met angels before.” I eyed the Warners. “I put the pieces together on accident because of some runes I was using.”

Alice began to slide to the floor but pulled herself back up. “Hey, sweets you should go sit down,” Wakko suddenly said. He and Yakko helped her into her room. It was small. One tiny bathroom, a table, a dresser, and nightstand and a small bed. There was a door that I guess was for the closet. The boys helped her sit on her rumpled bed while I closed the door.

“Alice. Really. What’s happened to you?” I eyed her in concern.

Her shoulders dropped in defeat. “I overdid it yesterday. I’m just recovering. Honest. I’ll be fine by tomorrow.”

“Overdid what?” Was she being evasive?

She gestured to the door. “Just work. I’m doing something for my boss.” Definitely evasive.

“Like what?” Yakko frowned. “No one should work a flower like you to exhaustion.” Alice chuckled weakly.

“I just put the petal to the metal,” Alice joked.

I fought the urge to smile and think up a pun to _pun_ _t_  back at her. Argh. No. No! She _was_ being evasive. “C’mon Alice. Especially considering you’re an angel. It must take a lot to wear you down this much. What is your boss having you do? Why did you even come back here? Bendy told me you hate this place.”

Alice winced. “He did?” Her eyes were sorrowful. “It’s just for a little while. I’ll be back soon.” Her voice was small.

I hesitated. She sounded so...cornered. Like she was about to cry. I dropped down beside her. How did you comfort people like this? Tentatively, I rubbed her back. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “We just want to make sure you’re okay. This is _not_ a good place. Even your coworkers at the bar didn’t want you coming back here.”

She let out a watery laugh. “I know. If it wasn’t so important, I wouldn’t have come back. But I _can’t_ leave yet. There’s something I have to get first.”

“Sounds good. Tell us what it is and we’ll fetch it right now!” Yakko said determinedly. He and Wakko saluted with army helmets on their heads.

She giggled again. “That’s sweet of you, but you’ll only get in trouble with Mr. Hat. I promise, I’ll be back soon.” She pushed. “I just have to finish this one project, and Mr. Hat and I will be done with each other. I’ll move back into the city the first minute I can.”

“Does this Mr. Hat have the thing you need?”

“Yes.” Alice nodded.

I frowned. “Can’t we help you with what you’re doing at least? So you won’t be so exhausted?”

Alice smiled, her eyes softened. “I’m touched that you want to help, but truly, there are only three of us that can really do any sort of work on this...well besides Dr. Flug, but he’s overlooking everything.” She shrugged. “He can’t do much more beyond that either.”

Frustration filled my chest. It seemed that we weren’t even capable of helping her. It worried me. Her state worried me. I hesitated. But I still didn’t feel good leaving. “Can I at least come visit you every couple days? To make sure you’re okay?”

Alice blinked owlishly. “Sure, I don’t mind. I think that would be fine.” She hesitated, and her smile fell. “Um, how are Bendy and Boris? I know they won the trial.”

I smiled. “They’re off again. They got the location of another item. I gave Bendy your letter.” The smallest smirk found its way onto my lips. I couldn’t help but think of when she’d pretended to be his girlfriend. “He was worried too, you know.”

She pursed her lips. “They weren’t disappointed I wasn’t there?”

My brows went up. “More concerned, less disappointed, I guess. They were worried about what I told them about that mob meeting. Apparently, we all have targets on our backs now.”

Alice nodded. “Makes sense. Well, I’m glad they could get back to their important quest.”

Her response surprised me. It felt distant, like she had other things on her mind already. “Oddswell’s trial is coming up soon too,” I offered.

She swallowed. “Oh, that’s right. Dear. It seems everything is happening at once. Do you think it will be okay? Is it just him, or are there others with him?” She blinked slowly.

“Uh, Alice?” Dot furrowed her brows and stepped closer to Alice to look her in the eye.

“What?” Alice leaned back a little. Dot took advantage of that and hopped in her lap and felt her forehead.

“Are you over using your magic? It’s magic exhaustion, isn’t it? Why are you doing stuff like that without your halo? Isn’t that dangerous?” Dot said with a perplexed look on her face. Over using her magic? That was bad!! I stared at her.

Alice huffed and gently pushed Dot away. She seemed to wake up more. “I’m _fine._ ”

“That ain’t fine in my book,” Yakko said and rolled up his non-existent sleeves. “I’m givin’ this Hat a piece of my mind.”

Alice’s eyes widened. “Please don’t! Don’t cause trouble! Really! It’s fine! This is the fastest way to resolve everything, and then I’ll be able to move on from here and go do the things I really want to.” Yakko pouted at her pleading form.

“I don’t like it,” Wakko stated and crossed his arms.

“You could seriously hurt yourself.” My teeth ground together. “People die from overusing their magic, Alice!”

She looked at me with a determined glint in her eyes. “I’m an angel, Holly. I know my own limits.”

Dot frowned. “Well you’re sure doing a swell job passing them.” I couldn’t agree more.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re an angel or a human if you go too far with your magic,” I whispered. Alice looked so tired sitting there. Now, I couldn’t help but feel guilty that she had to argue with us to add to that.  

“I know.” She pouted. “That’s why I have today off.” 

The four of us continued to argue with Alice a while longer, but she wouldn’t budge on the subject. In the end, we left in defeat, with little more than a reassurance that she would be back soon. Wakko still wanted to go to the buffet, so we ate there, and Dot took us back. All in all, it has left me depressed. And still...confused. Are there underground tunnels between the casino and whatever is out there in the woods? What is this Mr. Hat doing with Alice and the other angels? I wonder if maybe I shouldn’t try and catch a glimpse of him myself when I come to check on Alice. All I know right now is that I don’t know what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still have some of your stuff too, Mercowe. XD And that Monday thing is called 'dancing.' I hear 'normal people' do it for fun. You poor thing. Whelp! You got other social activities to play at that. Good luck with those! I will be at home writing. But boy, oh boy! If things are crazy on the quest, it's a complete MADHOUSE in Toon Town! What a mess the boys are going to come back to! XD
> 
> Mercowe: *Scratches head* Yeah, I need to go get that stuff. Sounds like it's time for a..ROAD TRIP!! XD
> 
> Also... _normal_ people? Where?!


	59. October 25, Tuesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm really excited for all that's going to happen in the next few entries. There's going to be quite a bit happening. Thanks for all the encouragement to me and Tap. We enjoy writing this side story and I'm glad you guys are having fun with it too. Enjoy!

I honestly want to smack my head on the wall right now. I can’t believe I forgot to tell everyone at the house something so important. The rat. Ratigan. His assignment. I never told them he was sent to spy on the house...I’m such a complete dumb dora.

That’s what I woke up to this morning. I had a dream about spying on the mob. It was really weird. The dice guy's head rolled across the floor and the mob got a four. Then someone asked me to roll it. I never did get to see what I rolled...

Anyways!

I woke up and it hit me like a bolt of lightning. Ratigan!

Needless to say, I called Granny as soon as I was awake. Then, I hesitated. What if he was listening over the phone? I didn’t tell her, but I did end up having quite a nice conversation about how long to stew that potion they make for the Ink Illness victims. At the end of it, I asked Granny out to lunch. I would meet her at a little cafe not far from Betty’s shop and tell her there. After that, I went to work at Betty’s and then went to our lunch meeting. When I arrived at the cafe, Granny was sitting at a little table at the far side. A young dog was cooking in the back. I waved to him and joined Granny at her table. “So, how are you doing?” I asked as I sat down.

“Oh fine, just fine, dear.” She cleared her throat a bit.

We both ordered food from another nervous dog who then ran the order into the kitchen. “How is the next batch going?”

“Well enough. It should be ready in another couple days, and then I start all over again,” she chuckled.

“You are such a trooper.” I smiled. “I have something I meant to tell you this morning.” I sighed. “Something I forgot to tell you all when Bendy and Boris’ trial finished.”

Granny sat up a bit straighter. “I feel a heavy storm acomin’ from this one. Is it somethin’ I should be tellin’ everyone after?”

“It’s something you should warn anyone who comes by the house about,” I cautioned. “There is a rat, a small one,” I made a motion of his size with my hands. “His name is Ratigan and the mob was planning to send him to the house when we spied on them. He was meant to spy on us, gain any important information on the item or anything else.”

Granny hmped! “A rat! Well, I think I know just the mouse to deal with him! Basil will be thrilled, I’m sure.” She scowled.

I blinked. “Basil, as in Basil who teaches at Yen Sid University? You know him?” The same Basil who’d been involved with Ratigan before?

She nodded. “And he’s our neighbor. He’s the one that found Red and called the hospital.”

I couldn’t help but gape a little. “Well, that’s very fortunate, then, isn’t it?”

Granny smiled. “If there is anyone that can deal with a big problem on a small scale, it’s Basil.” Just then, the nervous dog came out with our food. He almost reached the table when he slipped and dropped everything. All the food slid across the floor and the plate and glass shattered.

“PJ!” a deep voice growled.

“S-sorry dad!” The dog scrambled to clean up everything.

“Are you alright?” I leaned over, the poor guy was practically vibrating the table with his shaking as he tried to clean up the mess.

“Y-y-yeah,” he answered. A big...badger? Cat? Bear? Something or other came out from the back. “D-d-d-dad!”

“What did I say about being careful! And look! You’re even inconveniencing the customer.” He gestured to the food and to me.

I smiled at him. “We’re fine. Don’t worry.”

He turned to me and smiled. “So sorry for your trouble. We’ll get this cleaned up immediately. _Max!”_ He turned to the back. The other dog boy came out with a broom.

“Yeah, yeah, I heard.” Max sighed.

“Sorry man,” PJ said.

“Don’t worry about.” Max waved it off.

“You go back and remake everything. Then, _Max_ can bring it out to the lovely misses here,” the father said to his son.

I stared at Max. Now why did that face look slightly familiar? Max? Hmmm. I turned awkwardly back to Granny.

The dad ushered his son away. “Be quick about it Goof.” Goof? Goof! Was this the kid that Mickey Mouse and the others had mentioned when they were in the shop? I eyed the father. Then, that was the uncle that they had worried about.

“Yes sir, Mr. Pete,” Max said dully as he began swiping.

“Are you alright, Max?” I asked. He really looked depressed, honestly. What sort of shop did this man run?

“Fine, just been a rough week.” He shrugged.

“Oooh, heartsick dear?” Granny asked.

Max blushed. “Uh-wha-how did you?” I blinked and stared at Granny as well. Lovesick?

Granny laughed. “I’ve been around for a while, sonny! I know a lovesick youth when I see one. What’s the matter, sweety? Maybe Granny can help?”

Max blinked. “Uh, I don’t think--” I almost started laughing when I saw the expression on his face. He looked embarrassed, but a little curious.

“Does she not have the time to see you?” Granny asked.

Max startled and took a step back. “Okay, what are you, and how do you do that? Have you been following me?”

Granny laughed again. “You’re college aged, she is probably going to school, really busy with classes, maybe a job and here you are working. It’s not that hard to guess.”

Max blinked owlishly and looked to me for something.

I raised both brows. “If I were you, I’d listen to the sage old grandma, ‘dear’.” I laughed a little. “As you can see, it may not be her talent, but her abilities are exceptional.” Then, I couldn’t help myself. “What’s her name?”

Max sighed in defeat. “Roxanne.”

Granny nodded. “Well, if you can’t have time with her, give her little gifts. Reminders that you care. They don’t have to expensive things or fancy poems, just a card wishing her a good day or telling her you were thinking of her, a flower once in a while. She’ll love it.”

I nodded in agreement. “Remind her you care. What’s she studying?”

“Journalism,” Max said. I hid a grimace. I hoped this girl was a nice one. His eyes light up with interest as he turned back to Granny. “You think that’ll work?”

“Absolutely!” Granny grinned. “Now, best to focus on your work. Don’t want your boss getting more upset.”

Max nodded slowly. “Yeah, thanks.”

I watched the boy go. That was just so...adorable. I wanted to help him. I smiled at Granny. “You really are amazing, Granny. I love watching you work.” I chuckled. My mind, however, was already working as I talked. If he wanted to spend time with her in addition to giving little gifts...Maybe I should talk to Xedo about this...A little grin formed on my face.

Granny chuckled. “Years of practice, dear. Once you learn to listen and watch, people will tell you far more about them then they ever mean to.”

I tapped my lips. “Good advice, Granny. I’ll take that to heart.” People watching. Check. Why did it feel the farther I got in life, the worse the habits I was picking up? Oh well. At least I wasn’t stalking anyone anymore.

Max brought out two new plates, and we enjoyed our lunch together. We waved goodbye to Max on the way out, and I headed back to Betty’s at work. The second half of the day passed slowly, which in and of itself ended up being a blessing because I got more of that page translated. The content intrigued me because the items described seemed capable of amazing things. Curing the worst sicknesses, altering reality. It had me day-dreaming about the Micco again. Just _what_ had they been like? I would have given anything to meet someone from the Micco race, to just get a glimpse of what their world had been like--a world filled with people using runes, who _knew_ the intricate details of writing out a spell. It filled me with wonder.  

When Betty’s shop closed, I walked back to my apartment slowly. I couldn’t help but think about Alice. Sure, she said she was fine, but for some reason I just couldn’t believe it. But I had no idea what to do about it. She hadn’t listened to me or the Warners. I worried that something terrible might happen before she ‘finished’ her work. I have to think about this more. By the time I got back to my apartment though, I had no idea what to do. So, I turned to the only other idea I had. My tests on the ink from Wakko’s attack.

Cautious of the potential effects of the experiments, I moved to my usual rune working spot. The local park.

I made sure to go far into the woods and build a wall of stones in a circle as I prepared for the tests. I'd also brought a stack of paper and a dropper to take a bit of ink from the bottle I’d stored it in.

The problem was that I had no idea what I was looking for. After preparing everything, I sat there, staring at the ring of stones and the single sheaf of paper I'd placed in the center. This illness _melted_ people. It turned them into _ink_. How? That seemed magical, if nothing else did. Like Winky had said, it stunk of a curse rather than of getting sick.

Maybe anti-curse runes?

At nibbled on my lip. That was an idea to start with, at least. I wrote down the most basic ones on the paper and placed a drop of ink at the center of it. Then, I activated the spell.

The ink began to bubble as if heated, but otherwise there was no reaction. I frowned at it. Well, at least I’d gotten _some_ sort of reaction. But why had it bubbled? I sighed. Really, these sort of tests would be better done with an entire person, but I didn’t want to activate a rune and see them start to _bubble_.

I set that page aside and sighed. What next?

It had bubbled. Was there any other curse-related rune I could perform on it to watch the reaction? I scratched my head. A protection rune? But there were a lot of those. I narrowed my eyes. The older runes seemed to work better, so if I used an old one…

I leaned down and wrote on a fresh piece of paper, using a combination of an old protection rune and a stone rune (for solidifying). I activated the spell.  

The ink vibrated before solidifying into a black looking crystal.

That...literally told me not much more than the bubbling. I sighed, picking up the crystal and examining it. Maybe when Oddswell got back, I could give it to him, and he could tell me what it meant.

I thought about Ink Illness for a moment. So...according to everyone, it depended on the victims state of mind as well as their physical well being. What if I tested a ‘joy’ rune on a sample? Nodding, I repeated the procedure and put another drop of ink at the center. The runes activated.

It...shrank? Like, it was drying up, but not drying up. Like some part of it had disappeared? Did that mean if I used the rune on someone having an attack that it might help? I pondered this for a moment. All that was left on the paper with a dry black spot. I studied the page. Knowing Wakko, he _would_ let me test that out on him.

I glared at the samples again. What if it was some sort of time speeding phenomenon? Increased disintegration? I shrugged. Worth a try. This time, I wrote the ‘day’ rune and a ‘slowing’ rune together, and activated it. Nothing happened.

A streak of frustration ran through me, and I reversed the test to speed up the time instead. The paper...melted. The ink spread and seemed to _consume it_ leaving a bigger ink stain on the ground.

I gasped and jumped back. Curiously watching the inkstain on the ground, I wrote the same runes around the stain and activated it again. It spread again, leaves and dirt disappearing into it.

What the Blazing Stars?

I wish you could have seen it reader. It scared the socks off of me. It was like the ink was _eating away_ at whatever it touched. And all I was doing was speeding up the time that the ink existed in. That’s _all_ I was doing. If this was a curse, this was a _really_ bad one. This had come off of _Wakko!_ Just what was it doing to the people who had Ink Illness? ...And where did they start and whatever _this_ was that was in them end? Whatever this was, it didn’t just melt people. It melted anything within its touch.

I stepped back and sat down. Wait. People melting...Were Ink attacks a form of what I’d done here? Except that I had speeded this up. Which meant...Was this what would eventually happen to all of them? I knew they turned into puddles...

I’m sorry reader. I feel sort of sick. I need to write about something else for a moment or I won’t be able to finish accounting for all the tests I did today. For now, I’m going to skip ahead to what happened after I decided I was done testing for the day.

I went to Xedos.

Xedo was at his tea again, writing up a storm. He had written an article that gave hope. It was about the Ink Machine, and he intended to have it ready by tomorrow.

Also, apparently Wiston is dealing with a little situation, and he blames me. Seems that ‘Fireball’ hasn’t left him alone since I introduced them, but anytime he's tried to show the odd deerhawk to anyone, it would fly off and leave him there with only a story to tell. Xedo had completely dismissed him. Wiston simply wanted me to confirm that Fireball did really exist and wasn’t just part of his imagination.

I can’t tell you how tempted I was to play along. (As a child I’ll admit, I was prone to pranks on the right people.) Here, let me describe it to you.

The moment I walked into the living room, I noticed that Wiston was glaring at me from the other side of the room. He’d always been friendly before, so it surprised me. He sat on a couch, shoulders hunched with this resentful expression that made me blink several times. I had come to Xedo’s with the intention to talk to him about journalism, honestly, but with that look, all the other thought went clean out of my head. Xedo had been in the middle of writing something, so as he grabbed a pen to finish his sentence, I wandered over to Wiston. “Are you alright?” I asked him.

“You! It’s all your fault!” he accused.

“Now, is that anyway to greet a friend, brother?” Xedo raised a disapproving brow. Wiston huffed, crossed his arms, and slouched back into his seat.

I blinked at him again before turning to Xedo. “Do you know what’s going on?”

“Wiston has been have a rebellious phase. Just ignore him.”

As Xedo said this Fireball, the deer hawk, landed on the window sill and glared at all three of us inside. Wiston growled at it and my mouth hovered somewhere between open and closed.

“Uh-huh?” I smothered a laugh. Fireball bumped his head lightly against the glass, giving his direct glare to Wiston. He wanted inside?  

“No,” Wiston said. “You’re a jerk.”

“Wiston,” Xedo said, not looking up. “If you continue being rude, you can go to your room.”

“No! It’s the stupid deerhawk!” Wiston pointed at the creature. Xedo turned. But by then, of course, the animal was gone. The reporter’s ears dropped in annoyance.

“Enough Wiston--”

“ARGH!” Wiston threw up his hands and marched away.

I blinked again, feeling sorry the kid. “So Xedo…” I started. I didn’t want them to _argue_ about this. “You know how I made, Snowball, right?”

The small puffball poked out of my pocket at the mention of her name. “Meep?”

I’d been keeping her in Alice’s apartment for the last couple days. She’d finally gotten sick of it and practically buried herself in my pocket before I could protest when I went to leave this evening. It made me uneasy because the day I'd made that map, she'd nearly blown away into the sky before I could grab her, but I suppose she deserves some time outside.

“Yes?” Xedo asked. He put his pen behind his large ear and turned to her.

“You shouldn’t get mad at Wiston.” I cleared my throat. “I don’t know why it seems to have attached itself to him, but I might have accidentally made something else as well…”

Xedo raised his ears but otherwise kept a straight face. “Be that as it may, my brother needs to learn how to gather proof. This world doesn’t only work on trust of word. He could take a photograph, collect feathers, set flour to gather footprints. He needs to learn to back himself up.”

I nodded thoughtfully. “That’s a legitimate point.” I grinned. “I have a feeling he’ll need to get creative then. That thing’s ability to appear and disappear is impressive.”

“True, but he is a Tiptail. We are known for our creativity,” Xedo said. “If he puts his mind to it like he does with his fire, he would have no trouble.” Xedo said it with absolute certainty. He turned back to his work.

I shook my head. These two were really something amazing. “I did come here to ask you about something else, but before I get to that, I have to ask, does this mean you’re going to continue to pretend you don’t know it’s there?”

“Yes, if he ever wants to do anything in this world, he will have to make the opportunity himself. As his older brother, I will teach him that lesson here and now before it hinders him later in life,” Xedo said. He smirked. “I hope he takes his time. With his focus on the creature, he hasn’t thought to start any fires lately.”

That made me laugh--hard. I eyed him sideways. “So, that’s your _real_ motivation, huh?”

“Well...I am very busy. I might give him some hints after the trial with Oddswell.” Xedo turned away with a business-like air about him. “Oh, speaking of the doctor. That item you brought me, something odd has occurred.”

Any humor inside me dropped. “What happened? No one tried to steal it, did they?”

“No, no.” Xedo shook his head. “I have made it a habit to check it twice a day. Yesterday, I had quite a shock when I looked and discovered the doll had begun to melt.”

“Melt?” I’ll admit, after the experiments I had done earlier, that made me pretty queasy. It probably showed on my face. “Isn’t that connected to Bendy? Does that mean he's had another attack? Did you try to do anything to help? Was the liquid coming off it like the ink that comes off of him?” The questions came rapid fire. I probably should have taken a breath for Xedo, but my thoughts from the experiment I’d done had me jumpy, so I wasn’t really in the mindset to pause.  

Xedo lifted a hand. “Calm yourself, friend.” He smiled. “Before I could even think to worry, the doll was already returning to its natural state. The ink-like substance was being, well, reabsorbed into the doll. There wasn’t even a stain left.”

I nodded slowly. “That’s...comforting.” I hesitated. I had been wondering for a while... “If I’m careful, would it be alright if I looked at it?”

Xedo looked over at me. “I suppose...but I advise you to wear a thick glove so it cannot bite you.”

I nodded. “Safety first.” Bite me? I pulled on a pair of thick gloves that Xedo supplied.

Xedo went into one of the rooms of the hallway and took a few minutes before he returned with a metal box that had a lock on it. He pulled out a key and unlocked it.

It was a small doll, about the size of a hand and a half. And it looked exactly like Bendy, down to the vest, boots and goggles. But...it instantly gave me a creepy vibe. It wasn't the clothes or anything else. It was the  _eyes_. They seemed alive, more alive than doll's eyes should be.

Still, curiosity won, and I reached carefully for the doll.

“Meep!” Snowball cannon balled out of my pocket and bumped against the ceiling. I jumped in surprise, then glared at her.

“Do you have a problem with magic in general now?” I asked her. The small hedgehog didn’t answer. She simply moved to the other side of the room and perched on the top of one of Xedo’s bookshelves. She watched me with anticipation, half hiding behind a book. Xedo gave her a curious look.

I shook my head and carefully, carefully lifted the doll out of the box. Bendy and Boris had said it didn’t have any rune marks, but I was curious to look at it and see for myself. I tilted the doll this way and that, trying to see any spot where a mark might be hiding.

Exactly as they said, there was nothing. “It’s rather interesting how normal it looks.” It really didn’t look like anything more than a regular doll. Once again, I couldn't help but look at the eyes. The black buttons gleamed at me, and it’s stitched mouth smiled. It really did creep me out. I’d never liked dolls as a child in the first place, but a doll that could affect you like this one did was something out of nightmares. I put the doll back down. There wasn’t really much else I could look at anyways.

“Strange how something so ordinary can be so otherworldly,” Xedo said. “It’s almost like it’s alive and watching us.”  

That made me shiver. “It’s almost like it could get up and move around by itself.” I felt part horror, part wonder at the thought. “At the very least we’ll know how Bendy is doing through this thing. I hope they’re doing okay out there.”

“Since the doll is intact and shows no sign of damage, I would imagine he is.” Xedo chuckled. “I hope it’s content to be in the box.” He shrugged. “Who knows with these ancient magical items?”

“That’s true.” I put the lid back on top of the box. “I was just thinking today how much I wish I could talk to one of the Micco in person. They were such an amazing people.”

“An interview like that would be one for the ages,” Xedo agreed with a smile.

Once Xedo put the box back in its hiding spot, I folded my arms. “So, I had one last thing to talk about.” I couldn’t help the smile that formed on my face as I thought of the love struck look Max had had. “I was wondering, now that you are the editor-in-chief, if I knew someone who would love to learn more about journalism, would you be willing to set up a behind the scenes tour of Toon Town Times?” I raised my hand. “If things are too crazy right now, I understand. I just have heard that she’s a dedicated worker.”

“With a recommendation from you? How could I say no?” Xedo said warmly.  

I grinned. “I’ll get you the details on times, then.”

We talked a bit more about Xedo’s article until it started to get dark, and I made my way back.

Oh dear. It seems I’ve gotten to the end of the night...and I still haven’t finished writing about the experiments. I’ll have to go back now then. There are some important things that happened.

I went through a few different experiments after the time one. Once I used all the obvious runes, I tried some of the more unorthodox ones. One is called ‘Need,’ which generally draws what a thing or person needs most into existence for a moment. It’s not a rune that will changes things permanently, but more of a spiritual cleanser. It echoes the ideal reality. It’s meant to help people get their lives in prospective. I wasn’t sure how much it would do to test it on the ink, but this is what happened.

The ink bubbled and seemed to start to dry up, but instead it disappeared...and took a hole in the paper with it.

That did not fill me with any more confidence. It needed to be _gone?_ And ‘Need’ is not a permanent rune, as I just said. But the ink _never came back_. This is one of those times where I wish I knew more about the Micco, wish I knew more about runes, wish I knew more about this illness.

With little ideas left of what to do, I chose some random feel good runes and tested them. The first I tried was ‘sun,' which I think was meant to represent all that is good--strength, growth and things like that, since the sun gives life to plants, which in turn gives life to a lot of other things.

The ink shrunk a little, but then seemed to return to it’s normal size after a while.

I’d hoped it’d just disappear from the paper, honestly. Ink Illness be gone. The goodness of the sun seemed to do little to combat whatever this thing was.

With all other ideas gone, I went with ‘Chalice.’ This rune is a very interesting one. I was actually held in great esteem in the past. I’m not entirely sure why, but they used it a lot in purification spells. I’ve studied the runes of the spells and the special occasions they were used, but there is not a whole lot of explanation behind the meaning of ‘Chalice.’ Not to mention, I've only found about three instances when 'Chalice' was used in a spell of that sort. And when I used 'Chalice' on the ink...

The ink burned away with a hiss and left a black mark on the page.

I stared at the paper. Okay. I now accepted it wholeheartedly. Ink Illness was some sort of evil. Because that was not the reaction of anything in any way wholesome. Once again, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some way to use these runes to rid the illness from those with it, but the black mark ‘Chalice’ had left didn’t leave me with a lot of confidence in the wellbeing of anyone who went through this sort of purification.

At that point, I started to head toward Xedo’s apartment. As I walked, I managed to come up with one last disturbing thought. If Ink Illness ate away at everything, not just people, then did that mean that Ink Illness could infect more than people? Was it in the world around us and we simply didn’t know it? Was it transferable? But hadn’t Oddswell established that it wasn’t infectious, that it just _appeared_ in certain people? I don’t know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh yes. That illness sure is mysterious. Tap here! Wonder how much Holly is going to figure out? Me too. She is a determined one. It's a great time to try and piece some of these things together. Who knows? Maybe you can help her by helping Mercowe. I'm not guiding her, she really is trying to figure out the things I haven't told her. It's like a weird D&D roleplay, and I am the cruel DM. XD Except for no dice and maybe a bit less (more?) nerdy. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading guys!
> 
> Mercowe: ...Yep. Both Holly and I are a bit frustrated trying to figure this out...So if you have any ideas of what you think Holly should do to investigate, say so!


	60. October 26, Wednesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I had an interesting thought this week. It doesn't really have anything to do with the story, so if you want you can just skip this, but my church was doing a little meeting for the young, unmarried adults on Monday. I went to it and the speaker and his wife were talking about what marriage was like. It was sort of funny, because he was talking about how someone asked him what marriage was like. In response to this question, he shared a story about how one time when he got sick, he ended up puking all over the bathroom floor, and his wife was there to wipe his face and bring him back to bed. He said that was what marriage was about. Having someone to be there for you. 
> 
> So, this is my thought. As I was listening to this, it hit me. You see a lot of romance in media nowadays. It's dramatic and passionate and looks fun a lot of the time. But, honestly, it's always intimidated the heck out of me. I don't know what it is about those romantic dinners and cool kissing scenes, but they've always just made me want to run for my room and hide. 
> 
> When I heard the puking story, it made me really happy because it hit me all at once that the sort of relationship he described in his story was exactly what makes a marriage beautiful. Having someone who is your best friend, who you talk to and treat as your best friend, is one of the most amazing ideas I've ever heard of. That is way more beautiful than the way that most relationships are portrayed on T.V. 
> 
> Anyways, I just wanted to share that, because it was an amazing thought to me. I hope you enjoy this entry!

I took today off. Betty didn’t seem to mind. She was as eager to find out what would happen during Oddswell’s trial as anyone else, and she told me to come back with the news as soon as I could. When I got to the courthouse, there were just as many, if not more, people than there had been before. It seemed that the news about Ink Illness had continued to spread fast in the past days. There were people there that demanded the doctor’s release with signs and banners. It was not a small crowd. People were scared. And I mean scared like there were people in that crowd willing to storm the prison and break the professor out themselves.

Once I got inside I found Xedo and Wiston, so I sat with them. Wiston was still in a mood, glaring at me as if I had just slapped him. I smiled at him and shrugged. Xedo was right. There wasn’t much more I could do. Before he could get a proper complaint out, the trial started.

The same small judge appeared and sat on a tall stack on his chair. Dr. Oddswell and a beautiful woman who I assumed was Red walked into the room. They sat at the defendants table. Red was a tall woman sat with a determined expression on her face. Oddswell, true to his character, sat with an expression that I can only describe as a calculated inspection on his face. It made me feel like a fish in a tank, and _he_ was the one on trial. Oddswell. I don’t think I’ll ever meet another person quite like him.  

“Order! Oder in the court! We’d like to begin!” The judge banged his mallet on the podium to the point his wig fell askew. Eventually, silence fell and the first lawyer stepped up to present.

It was Winky. Ugh.

I had hoped that because he’d failed at convicting Bendy and Boris that they would drop him for a less aggravating lawyer, but here he was, still smiling that star-fallen awful smile.

Nope. I refuse to do it.

I lived through this guy once, _then_ had to write about it. And now I’ve had to live through his garbage again. I _refuse_ to write about him. It’s a waste of paper. And my brain cells.

The only highlights I have to give are these. Oddswell was very straightforward about what he had done. He didn’t mince words, and he didn’t try and defend himself. It’s something I’ve always found admirable about him, despite the fact that the man’s morality about testing things terrifies me. He called his patients ‘subjects,’ which surprised me when he first said it. The jury didn’t look very comfortable with it either. Red, however, made the trial worth the pain of having to listen to the soul-sucking Winky again.

I think even with what happened with Boris and Bendy the jury was ready to send him straight back to a cell just because of his attitude. But Red turned things around.

She was very straightforward about the facts like Oddswell. The difference was this, she was also very straightforward about Dr. Oddswell’s motivations, and his connection to Professor Wiseton. I think she nearly cried at one point, she was so passionate about defending the good lizard. It was strange. I got the sense from her testimony that Oddswell cared a lot. It was hard for me to picture, but somehow I couldn't consider the possibility that she was lying. The emotion in her voice, the strength in her words. They were all sincere. As sincere a testimony as I have ever heard.

I’m happy to say that in the end the charges were dropped.

Xedo, Wiston and I headed back to Granny’s house after the trial was finished, since we all supposed that was where Oddswell and Red would go after the proceedings were done. And just like last time, there was a huge crowd of reporters around the house.

The smirk of Xedo’s face as he walked past all of them and into the house was unforgettable. And the expressions they gave back. If looks could kill…

Inside the house ended up being just as chaotic.

Yakko, Wakko, and Dot were hopping around every corner calling for a party, Granny was passing out drinks with Betty helping her, Bimbo was chatting to a couple of fellas. A number of people I never met were there. Some were professors from the school and doctors from the city. Others, I didn’t recognize at all. There was a crow in a smock with large, thick glasses; a short, big-eared fox; and a lanky black cat who stood clustered together in one section of the room. A dove and a rabbit talked in hushed tones to Red in another. Dr. Oddswell stood at one end of it all, studying the wide variety of individuals present.

Xedo immediately moved to talk to Oddswell before anyone else took the opportunity, so I was left standing awkwardly in the doorway with Wiston, who took this opportunity to glare at me again. I almost asked him if he wanted to go outside and hunt for the bird. It would have been way easier on my nerves than standing in a room full of people, and maybe he would stop giving me dirty looks then.

But I didn’t. Despite the instant dry throat that afflicted me, I was curious who everyone was, and that won out over my fear. I joined the awkward huddle of cat, fox and crow, since the atmosphere seemed to suit my own mood. “Hello?” I looked at each of the three of them. “I’m Holly May. I’ve never met any of you. How do you do? How do you know Oddswell and Red?”

“Oh, Hullo there! I’m Fin, and this is my buddy Sammy. We’re here to help Dr. Oddswell with his research. See,” Fin, the small fox, grinned widely and gestured to the crow, “this here is Dr. Boo. He kept on lookin’ after the lizard’s research and such while he was in jail.”

I smiled. “That’s wonderful!” I turned to Dr. Boo. “Thank you so much for doing that!”

Dr. Boo bobbed his head in greeting. “You’re welcome.”

“Sadly, it doesn’t seem our pals are here,” Fin said regretfully.

“Your friends?”

“The Bbros!” Fin said proudly. “Heard they were in town, but the Warners said they left.”

I blinked. “Oh?”

Sammy lifted a finger. “They’re probably busy, Fin.”

I turned to Sammy. “I’m sure they would want to see you. You just missed them, really.”

“Well, we came all the way from Warnerburg to help out. So, they better head on back here soon.” Fin lifted his chin and tugged on the bandanna he had tied around his throat. “Those two have some tales to share.”

I laughed. “I’ll bet they do. They’ve been working so hard.” I paused then, curious. “I was just wondering. How are you planning on helping Oddswell? It makes sense with Dr. Boo, but have you two been researching the illness too?”

“They’ve been looking for patients. They have an act of observing people. They’ve help identify no less than five people with the ink illness.”  

I took in a little breath of wonder, looking at the two of them. Sammy shrunk in a little. “What signs do you look for?”

“Little things, paleness, exhaustion, a dullness in their eyes.” Fin shrugged. “It’s hard to explain.”

“It’s nothing. We’re wrong a lot of the time,” Sammy said. “We send them to Dr. Boo, and he gives them a free exam to see if we were right.”

I nodded. “Still, I’m sure those five people are grateful.”

Sammy blushed and ducked his head. The three of us talked for a little while after that, but eventually, we all drifted into different circles. I saw Betty chatting with Red, the rabbit, and dove, so I moved over there when the moment seemed right.

“Holly!” Betty greeted with a smile. “Have you met Red Hood?”

I shook my head, smiling at the woman. “No. Hi Red, I’m Holly May.”

“Hello, it’s a pleasure.” Red said with a nod. I have to admit that standing next to such a beautiful, confident woman made me feel a little bit self conscious. This girl had gone through a lot. Going to the hospital, being locked up. And that was after what she'd seen of the illness. I looked down at the drink Betty had given me. I hadn't even been able to stick around to help Granny when...Well, that was the past now, and I'd been trying to help in other ways. 

The rabbit spoke up. “Are you sure you don’t want to go out for drinks, girl? If anyone deserves to loosen up, it’s you!” She was wearing a fashionable hat and sunglasses. I tilted my head. Inside? That was odd.

“I’m sorry, Fanny, but I’m already tired. I’ll be exhausted by tonight. Maybe some other night.” Red shook her head.

“Fanny won’t stop until she gets you out on a night on the town,” the dove laughed lightly.

“Oh shush Dovil, you’ve wanted a night out too!” Fanny hissed in annoyance.

Betty laughed. “And these lovely women are Fanny and Dovil. They’re nurses that used to work with Red,” Betty explained.

I scrunched my eyes. Wait. Now that I thought about it, didn’t Fanny look familiar? I had tried to visit Red in the hospital once, back before I met Bendy and Boris a second time. A slow smile formed on my face. Fanny had been the nurse that had scared me right out the door. “Nice to meet you,” I said to them both cheerfully. “Personally, I feel like you could make a night in just as fun as a night out if you wanted,” I offered.

“Charmed,” Fanny said. Her tone was low and seemed to easily slip into something close to sarcasm. I wasn't sure whether it was intentional or not, but either way, I decided to keep smiling. It would seem I was in the company of many strong willed women. It made me a bit nervous, but at the same time, it made me want to be an even better person myself. 

“That’s a good idea! Why don’t we do that Fanny?” Dovil brightened up.

Fanny shrugged. “I guess it’s okay.” Red rolled her eyes.

I could see why these two were friends. I looked at Betty. “You really seem to know everyone,” I commented.

Betty smiled.

“You would think it’s her talent,” Fanny snarked.

Betty laughed. “Jealous?”

“Please, like I would want to remember all those names.” Fanny rolled her eyes. I could only tell by the raise of her brows. Now really? Why would she wear glasses in doors. Wasn't it hard to see?

“But don’t you remember the names of everyone that’s ever been your patient, Fanny?” Dovil smirked.

“Shush, you!” Fanny snapped. “You remember every boy you’ve ever liked!” The rest of us laughed, including Dovil, who didn’t seem bothered at all by the rabbit’s comment.

I found Fanny an interesting contradiction. She seemed to try and keep herself very aloof from most of the people around her, yet her friends kept on finding and pointing out genuine points of goodness in her that painted a very different picture of who she was to me. It was almost as if Fanny couldn't bear for the world to figure out that she cared. It was a strange twist to her personality. The talking continued, but eventually I drifted away once again, this time more intentionally than accidentally. I had someone I needed to talk to. And I'd been avoiding him since I'd entered the house.

Honestly? I remember living out the days when I had class with Dr. Oddswell in fear, each morning filled with anxiety over what _possibly_ he could be throwing at us that day and wracking my brain on how I could prepare. I brought anything and everything meant for my protection. At one point, this included a welding apron and helmet, as well as an actual shield. It depended on the experiment we were doing that day. Still, it never was quite enough.

Once, an experiment in making slime ended up turning the classroom into a battlefield of epic proportions. Two of my classmates and I ended up diving behind an overturned table, which then ended up being backed against a wall. If that wasn’t bad enough, the slime dried and _glued_ the table there, effectively trapping us between the wall and the table for several hours. I missed the rest of my classes that day.

This is my point.

Even after all of this, I couldn’t help but be curious enough to want to talk to him.

What is wrong with me?

By then, Xedo had finished talking with Oddswell, and he and Dr. Boo had been chatting quietly for a while. I walked up to the both of them and smiled at Oddswell. “Hello Professor.”

The lizard turned his large eyes on me. “Ah, May. It’s good to see you again. I’ve heard a lot of the things you’ve been doing to help Bendy and Mrs. Grace.”

Mrs. Grace? Did he mean Granny? I nodded. “I’ve learned a lot helping out.” I shrugged. “I talked to Granny about how you made the pain killer for Ink Illness. It sounded very complicated.”

Dr. Oddswell nodded. “It is indeed a process.”

“Hopefully we’ll be able to make improvement soon,” Dr. Boo added, his glasses hiding his eyes.

“Good luck to you. If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know,” I added. I scratched my hair awkwardly. “There was something I wanted to show the both of you, actually, if that would be alright. I don’t know what to make of it, and I wanted your opinion.”

“Yes?” Dr. Oddswell asked. Dr, Boo watched on with interest.

I motioned them to follow me to the kitchen. Clearing an empty space, I put down a fresh piece of paper, wrote the runes for ‘day’ and ‘hastening’ in a circle and brought out my little bottle of ink. I showed it to the both of them. “This is ink from Wakko Warner’s ink attack.” That said, I took my dropper and squeezed a small bit of ink on the paper. “The runes I’ve written here essentially speed up time for the element of interest.” I pointed at the lines running toward the ink at the center. “Which are indicated by these. This is what happens when I activate them.”

It melted once again. Dr. Boo and Dr. Oddswell leaned over the sample, observing the process.

“Seems to speed up the acidic effects,” Dr. Boo said.

“Yes, the dissolve rate is heightened,” Dr. Oddswell stated.

I nodded. That made sense. “But isn’t it strange that it does that to things other than the sick? When someone leaves this stuff behind, I’ve never seen it put a hole in the floor.”

“Not necessarily,” Dr. Oddswell said. “Water also would do the same at a quickened speed of time. Erosion is a part of nature.”

I tilted my head. That was true. I glanced at the runes. But I didn’t feel I had sped up the time that quickly. Was I overreacting? And then there were the results from the other tests. But the purpose of those tests was more...abstract than quickening time. I wasn’t sure the best way to explain it to Oddswell and how much stock he would put in it. He had always been much more interested in the scientific aspects of nature rather than the magical ones.

“It does show some interesting properties of the ink though. For example, it grew instead of drying up like normal ink would,” Dr. Boo pointed out. “Miss May could be on to something here about the nature of the expelled ink from those with the illness.”

Dr. Oddswell nodded. “I see your point, Dr. Boo.” He turned to me. “Well done, Miss May. You were always a bright student, what more do you have to show us?”

I hummed, taken by surprise at his compliment. I nodded, wishing that someone who knew more about runes were here to look at the results as well, someone who could explain things better. But Oddswell seemed open, so I would show him. “It also grows every time I perform the spell,” I felt inclined to mention. “I made quite a big hole in the ground in the park when I tested this. But well, here’s another strange result that I saw from another test.” I pulled out more paper and wrote on it. “This is the ‘Joy’ rune.” I activated the spell.

By now Dr. Oddswell had pulled out a notebook and was scribbling something down quickly. “Holly, I want you continue with these experiments and report them or show your findings to us.”

“Within safe measures,” Dr. Boo added. I couldn’t help but laugh a little at that. It seemed that no one was under any illusions about whether or not using runes could be dangerous.

“Oh yes, of course,” Dr. Oddswell agreed. It almost felt like an afterthought with him, which did not surprise me at all. “Please share all, but don’t endanger yourself. The more we understand about the strange nature of this ink, the closer we will be able to combat it. Whether the cure is found in magic, science, the machine or some mix of the three, lives are at stake and all resources must be used wisely,” Dr. Oddswell stated. Dr. Boo smiled and nodded. There were a number of other people gaining interest in my experiment.

I let out my breath. I had been a bit nervous to show them, but now I was grateful I had. I proceeded to show him the rest of the experiments I had performed, ending with ‘Chalice,’ which seemed to interest him.

He blinked. “Now, this has some promise. But the burns or stains here could be permanent damage to organ and tissues. We’ll have to be careful.”

I nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. I’ll try to do some more tests into this line of rune then.”

We talked a little more of the results I’d found, but then the conversation died out, and I decided to slip away. I’d pretty much met all the people I didn’t recognize and being around this many people frankly exhausted me. I let myself out the front door and started to walk down the street.

It was starting to get dark at that point, but I couldn’t help but look toward where Black Hat’s casino was. It’d been a day since I’d seen Alice. And I did ask her if it was okay if I checked up on her ‘every couple days.’ I clicked my tongue. How long did it take to get to the casino? Since Dot had taken us every time, I wasn’t sure.

I called a cab.

I’m going to admit something here. It’ll probably end up biting me in the butt as it always does, but, oh well.

Alice says she’s fine, but the words of that deer bartender ring in my head, have rung in my head for the past two days. I keep on remembering how sick she was, compared to how lively and strong she was just days ago to when we went on our little adventure together. If Alice won’t tell me what’s going on, maybe I’ll just have to find out for myself.

I am a terrible, snoopy, busy-body. Most likely, I am overreacting and I’ll end up feeling embarrassed and sorry about this. But I plan on following her to whatever work it is that she does. I never had such terrible habits before I started to follow that star-fallen reporter. I would research things, but I wouldn’t go around stalking people!

In the end, it’s of no use. I need to know that something terrible isn’t happening to her to feel rested. For these reasons, after I left Granny’s house, I decided to visit Alice. Afterward which, I decided I would put on the ‘Fade’ bracelet and see if I could find out what these angels were doing.

Back to the cabby. It was that dog again. The drive was like riding a race car that was in first. The dog was an expert driver, but the risks he took, well timed or not, were heart stopping at times. I may have gained some white hairs from the experience. The race out of town was done in half the time it should have. The buildings shrank and spaced out, then the suburbs, then the trees consumed the landscape. Eventually, a tall building came into sight. To my chagrin, the place was shaped a little like a top hat. There was a snazzy wrap around entrance. There were four floors above it that seemed to be only balcones and glass. It glittered like a lost jewel.

Considering how I’d arrive before, I wasn’t surprised that I’d missed all the detail...But then again I _was_ surprised that I had missed all this detail. If that makes sense. Thanks to the lighting, I could tell that the back was hiding a show of some kind. Maybe an event was going on?

I thanked Droopy for the ride. I’ll admit it. I asked him if he used magic of some kind to do what he did, because what he does is mind twisting. His only reply was, “Not knowing is half the fun. Have a nice evening Miss May,” in a nasally voice. He gave me that half raised smile with just a tint of mischief in his eyes before pulling away again.

I snorted at the receding car and shook my head. Curiosity, as it always does, got the better of me, so before entering the casino, I went around the back to investigate what sort of event was going on.

Tons of men in suits. Beautiful women in dresses. There was a band set up in the center of the garden playing an upbeat number. I didn’t really recognise anyone...until I saw Robert Sykes. The very blood in my veins went cold, and I ducked behind a bush on instinct. Then, remembering my ‘Fade’ bracelet, I put it on and peeked out at the man again. He was chatting brightly with another couple of men and grabbed a drink from a passing tray.

He certainly looked cheerful for a man who had been ousted from his job and had failed at killing his targets so far. That couldn’t mean good things. I scanned the scene, looking for something else I could hide behind to get closer. After all, ‘Fade’ makes whispers to the mind that I’m not worth remembering, that I’m not there; it doesn’t make me invisible.

Tables, bushes, shrubs, and waitresses and waiters littered the area. The table Robert stood next to had a long cloth on it. Something easy to duck under! With that strategy in mind, I weaved from place to place, bush to bush, shrub to shrub until I crawled underneath the table and as near the man as I dared.

They were laughing. “And you really set it up!”

“No, well, Bill is. That’s why he’s running late,” Robert said.

“Good sun blazing stars!” one of the others said.

“You’ll take the front page for sure!” another laughed.

“Would you expect anything less of the Sykes?” the first said.

“Gentlemen, gentlemen, I have no idea what you mean. My name won’t be anywhere in the paper. Simply a sad tragedy,” Robert said.

I blinked underneath the table. Sad tragedy? What sad tragedy? They were up to something again. And Bill Sykes was setting it up? My heart went in my throat. Did that mean it was happening now? I had to warn--but I didn’t even know what was going on yet! I listened harder, mentally begging them to brag about some specifics.  

“You never let any man put you down, do you Robert?” the second said.

“Life’s too short for that.” Robert sounded pleased.

“But didn’t you just lose your job? You seem mighty chipper,” the first said.

“I expect my luck to turn around very soon. A couple more ‘odd jobs’ here and there, and I’m sure I’ll be on top of the city in no time,” Robert bragged. I held back the intense desire to thumb my nose at the cretin from under the table. This guy deserved a reality check.

“Wish you’d tell us how you do it,” the second man said. “You could teach my group a thing or two.”

“Now where’s the fun in that?” Robert laughed. “Sorry boys! Trade secret.”

Still no info yet. I scowled. What if I just called Featherworth and Ringtail? They could come arrest Robert and hopefully Bill. Maybe that would stop whatever it is this devilish man was planning.

“Isn’t that typical,” the second man scoffed.

“Careful pal. Rumor is that they have a partnership with a foreign prince,” the first chuckled.

“What?” Robert chuckled. "What will the rumor mill come up with next?”

“Oh please, like some of those hog-pog stories you pushed!” the first laughed.

“No, no. I think the best rumor is that you work for the same schmuck that has those Cup assassins in his pocket,” the second said. Which I knew for a fact was the truth. “That mysterious mob boss that seems to have his thumb in every conspiracy but no name. Every fella just calls him the ‘boss,’ and if ya cross him, you disappear.”

The first snorted. “That’s any crime boss, you idiot!” I swallowed, starting to get impatient as I listened. Should I just go and call the girls? I hesitated a moment more, listening. If nothing happened in the next minute, I would go.

“No pal, you don’t understand. A mook disappears from the city, the police poke around. They get ties. They figure he was a part of this world down here. They might even find a body. But not this guy.” That caught my interested, and I paused.

“Oh?” the first scoffed.

“They say if this ‘boss’ wants you gone, you’re gone. There won’t be any ties. No puzzle pieces to put together unless he wants there to be. The cops aren’t even aware he exists,” the second said. “He makes the rest of us look bad.” So, this was the mysterious ‘boss’ who directed that dice man. He was the one who truly wanted to stop Bendy and Boris. So the cops didn’t even know about him? That was terrifying.

The first scoffed again. “Sounds like a bunch of hogwash. What do you say Sykes? You working for the boogeyman?”

There was a long moment of silence. “Don’t know, you’d have to ask my boss,” Robert said softly. The words were of a joking manner, but there was something in his tone that sent a shiver up my spine. There was an pause before one of the other men burst into laughter.

“Good one bud! That was good! You had me going!” the first said.

Robert chuckled. “Well, I _may_ have a meeting with the Cup Brothers soon. Want me to ask for you?” I blinked. He was what?

The other two became quiet. “Know what? If you two manage to off those cops, then sure. If ya disappear, I know what happened,” the first chuckled. Off the _cops_?

“Sure, I’ll be sure to mention you,” Robert said pleasantly. No. No-no-no-no-no. I scrambled backward under the table, moving as quickly as I could in my skirt. This was bad. I didn’t think when I was going to call them, I was going to have to _call about_ them! I slid from underneath the table and darted toward the nearest bush, moving in an almost zig zag fashion back across the lawn.

Where was a phone? Where was a phone!

I ran into the casino lobby, yanking at the ribbon of my bracelet. I grabbed the nearest person in a casino uniform. “Where can I use a phone?”

The little man startled and pointed at the front desk. I let go and ran past him. Leaning over the counter, I spoke fast to the attendant there. “Can I use your phone, please!”

He lifted the line and offered it to me. Snatching the phone from him, I dialed Featherworth’s personal number. It rang and rang and rang. Biting my lip, I hung up and rang Ringtail’s. The same thing happened.

“Horsefeathers. Horsefeathers. Horsefeathers!” I rang the station.

“Toon Town Police Station.” A woman’s voice answered the phone.

“Yes,” I said breathlessly. “I need to speak with detective Ringtail or Featherworth immediately!”

“I’m sorry ma’am. They left a few minutes ago,” the woman said. “I can take a message for them.”

“No! You don’t understand. You need to go get them and bring them back! Someone’s about to try and kill them!!” The words left my mouth rapid-fire.  

“What! Ma’am what do you know?” the woman’s voice became stern.

“I’m at the Black Hat hotel. Robert Sykes is here, and I just overheard him talking about plans to off both those detectives. You need to get officers here. Bill Sykes might be here soon as well. But either way, you _need_ to warn the detectives!”

“Ok. We’ll be sending officers your way soon. Don’t approach the Sykes again. I would advise you to leave the casino until the cops arrive. We’ll try to find the detectives as soon as possible. What was your name?”

“Holly May.” My knees went weak with relief. Oh, thank heavens. They were going to come to help!

“Okay, Miss May. Thank you for the tip,” the woman said and hung up.

I put the phone back down with shaky hands, only to notice that the attendant was staring at me as if I’d grown another head. Leave the casino? No. They hadn’t found the detectives yet. But, was there anything I could do…?

The thought jumped into my mind like a burning coal, making me jump. Alice was an angel. Maybe she could help somehow.

With that thought fueling me, I moved through the halls back to the room we’d found before. When I arrived, I knocked hard.

The door opened. “Oh Holly! Hello, I was just getting ready for my shift,” Alice said. She had her long hair in a braid, she was in a vest and button up shirt. Her black skirt and simple shoes completed the look. “My goodness! What’s wrong? You look deathly pale!”

“A--” I had to swallow. “Alice. It’s the Sykes. They’re here. And I overheard them. They’re going after the detectives. I tried to call them, but they weren’t at home or the station.” I’ll admit it. My voice cracked. “And I just don’t know what to do!”

Alice blinked and then yanked me into her room. She locked the door and sat me down. “What do you know? Do you know what they’re doing? How they’re in danger? Details! Give me details!” Alice demanded as she rushed to her nightstand and pulled it away from the wall.

“I-I’m sorry.” The intense sense of desperation grew. “Robert was so very sparse with the details. He hardly mentioned what was going on at all. All I know is that Bill Sykes was to arrange it and that’s why he wasn’t here yet. It’s going to be a ‘tragedy’ in the news.” I shook my head. “So, an accident? I don’t know.” I suddenly felt guilty for not staying longer. Getting more details. But the time. I didn’t have the time to wait!

I hesitated. “Also the detectives...They just left the precinct a couple minutes ago. The officer I talked to said that.”

“Okay, I can work with that” Alice pulled a bag out out from behind the cabinet. It was small, held shut with pull strings. She opened the bag and a bright light filled the room. “You can’t tell anyone about this, okay?”

(I'm sorry dear reader. I made a promise. I wrote this out to get it out of my head, but considering how many times my journal has been read already, I'm going to scratch out what happens next.)

~~I stared at the bright light, quite speechless at this point. What was she doing? I slowly nodded. “Okay,” was pretty much all I could manage at that point.~~

~~She nodded and reached into the bag. Whatever was in there was too bright to look at directly. She pulled it out and cradled it her hand, putting the bag back. A soft warmth filled the room, along with the scent of fresh rain and greenery. She closed her hand around the glowing item, and her body brightened until I had to look away.~~

~~I closed my eyes almost all the way and put an arm over my face.~~

~~“Protect.” Her voice was soft, like a whisper, but booming like trumpets. The warmth and light flashed and then suddenly was gone. Then, it was just Alice standing there, her hands half raised in front of her, cupping something that wasn’t there anymore. Her eyes closed. She dropped to her knees.~~

~~“Alice!” I rushed forward and grabbed her elbows, propping her up.~~

~~“I’m fine. Just a bit tricky to direct. They’ll be fine now Holly.” Alice smiled. I blinked. There did seem to be a glow about her now. Not literally, but she looked more like her energetic self.~~

~~I stared at her. “Just what was that?” I whispered very softly.~~

~~“A miracle. I used it to protect the detectives from any ill intentions. Whatever they are planning won’t work tonight. I think they’ll be safe for a few days, if not a few weeks.” Alice smiled.~~

~~I don’t think I’ve ever felt so much pure joy and peace as I did at that point. Alice’s words rang true. It wasn’t just Alice who looked better. I felt like I could walk to the moon! “Wow. Alice that’s--You’re--Wow.” I just sat there and smiled like a dumb dora for about five minutes. “What’s a miracle?” I finally managed in my go-happy state.~~

~~Alice giggled. “A mass of positive energy that angels store to use in emergency situations and a number of other things. You’re feeling the lingering magic.”~~

~~I grinned and gave a cheerful giggle of my own. “I feel like I could be this lighthearted all the time.” I shook out my hands. “I’ve been so worried lately.”~~

~~Alice nodded. “I know. I’ve been too. It’s nice to have some peace, but this will dissipate. You can choose to be happy though. I try!”~~

~~I shook my head. “I think that’s why you’re so likable, Alice.” I nodded. “I’m going to try.” I let out a breath and stood up.~~   

~~Alice sighed. “Please don’t tell anyone. The Surface...isn’t very kind to angels. And miracles are supposed to be anonymous.”~~

~~“Don’t worry.” I shook my head. “I’ll keep my promise. After all, you did it to save them and…” I smiled. “Alice, thank you. You are amazing.”~~

Alice smiled and shook her head. “I try my best. You’re the hero here, Holly. I wouldn’t have known to do anything if it wasn’t for you.”

I scratched my head. “I just seem to have a habit of being in the wrong place at the right time.” I still shake my head at the fact now. “I came here to visit you and ended up seeing him.” I shuddered.

Alice looked at me sadly. “Sorry about that. Don’t put yourself in danger.”

I raised a critical eyebrow. “Why are you apologizing? It’s not your fault.”

“Because I forgot to warn you how dangerous it can be around here.” Alice tilted her head. “I’d feel terrible if something happen to you while you are visiting me.”

“Oh.” I shrugged guiltily. “I’ll be careful. You don’t have to worry.”

She giggled and patted my arm. “How is everyone?”

I tapped my lip. “Xedo was offered the position of editor and chief at Toon Town Times after what happened with Robert Sykes. And Oddswell and Red were released today.”

“How splendid!” Alice clapped her hands together. “It seems the odd justice system here can do good then.”

I raised a brow. “So why do you think the justice system is so odd?”

Alice blinked, and she looked around the room like she expected someone to pop out at her. “Well...I guess there’s no reason for secrets anymore. You already know I’m an angel...In the Upper, a trial is almost immediately. There is little to no evidence needed since the judges will read the prosecuted’s emotions. It’s difficult to hide one’s guilt in the Upper.”  

Now it was my turn to blink. “Angels can read a person’s emotions? That fills me with both awe and horror.”

“Yes and no. It’s hard to explain.” Alice shrugged. “It’s one of the reasons the ‘right person’ comes at the ‘right time’ for some people. Angels can see past the mask everyone wears in public or in certain groups. It’s not like we know your deep secrets or anything, just that if you’re sad, then you're sad even if you’re smiling.”

“Still.” I shook my head. “There are times a person doesn’t want to feel a certain way, or it just creeps up on them. I hope those emotions are never held against a person.” I thought about all the times I had pretended to be polite when I wanted to smack someone.

Alice frowned...or more like pouted. “We have similar ‘difficulties’ in the Upper. Many people come there hoping to find happiness or peace. Their disappointment or anger is obvious when they realize the location doesn’t change them. That doesn’t mean we shove it in their faces. That’s just rude.”

I shrugged. “I suppose everyone has to learn to be mature about it.”  

Alice nodded and looked at the floor sadly. “It’s like meeting someone with a big scar on their face. You don’t know where they got it or why, if it was an accident or an attack. You notice it, but you don’t say anything about it. Angels usually want to know the person carrying the scar more than the scar. Does that make any sense?”

I nodded slowly. “So, you’ve felt everyone's emotions here?”

She lifted a hand and tilted it back and forth in a so-so fashion. “I still haven’t earned my wings, and without my halo my powers are greatly diminished. So, I’ve felt some of the stronger emotions of some of my coworkers and the guests, but most of it is beyond me.”

“Without your halo? What’s a halo?”

She lifted a hand to the side of her head. “It’s a very important tool for an angel. When we first show signs of magic, our parents give us a halo. It absorbs some of our magic and bonds with us. It helps control our powers and draw out energy for bigger spells. It’s both a battery and a safety net. It’s the reason young angels don’t blow things up or start random fires and why we don’t collapse after performing big spells. Since it binds to the magic it absorbs, it’s connected to one angel and one angel to one halo.”

I thought about what had happened two days ago and started putting the puzzle together. “Your halo is what’s keeping you here, isn’t it?”

She pursed lips and didn’t say anything. Her eyes dropped back to the floor.

“How did you lose it?”

“I don’t know! I woke up, and it was gone! I tracked it to this place. I know it’s around here somewhere! I can feel it! But I have no clue where. Black Hat promised to get it for me if I help him,” Alice said in one big rush.

My eyes went half lidded. The story and panic in her eyes instantly reminded me of my first week in Toon Town. I’d lost my purse, my good coat, and the train pass I’d barely purchased in a matter of hours. I hadn’t even been particularly dumb. I just hadn’t looked after my things carefully enough.

It was so obvious, it took all my sense of self-preservation not to walk out and look for this Black Hat fellow. It disappeared, and then suddenly he can ‘help’ her find it. When she was an angel. She was being used and manipulated!

“So…” I said slowly, “Black Hat stole your halo then.” I honestly hoped I could get control of the anger rising within me soon. Otherwise, soon she’d be able to tell.

Alice’s eyes widened, and then she dropped her head. “Most likely,” she said in a small voice.

I ran a hand through my hair. “Just who is this person, anyways? How did he even know you were an angel?”

“Oh, that’s simple. Mr. Hat is a demon. Demons and angels can sense one another,” Alice stated.

Well, that made my jaw drop. “Demon?” There was a long silence. “He isn’t anything like Bendy, is he?”

Alice blinked. “Heavens no!” Then, she paused and reconsidered. “Well, I don’t know really.” She sighed. “In the Upper, I grew up with a number of stories about demons. I thought I knew what they would be like, but between Bendy and Black Hat, I’m not sure anymore. They may be as diverse as I am to you. Black Hat is selfish, egotistical, power hungry, violent, and manipulative. He has this kind of cold, cruel aura about him. It makes my skin crawl to just be near him. Yet, he protects his business and employees to no end. No matter what. I don’t know if it’s because he sees us as ‘his’ or some other form of power for him, but he does provide for his workers. Some here would be homeless and starving on the streets if it wasn’t for him.”

She sat down with a sigh. “At home, I was warned that demons don’t do anything without a reason. And that their reasons are always selfish or self serving.” She shrugged. “And that’s where Bendy throws in his wrench, because I can’t make heads or tails of him.”

I couldn’t help but agree. Honestly, I’d heard many stories as well. But the moment I’d met Bendy, he’d walked underneath the canopy of Yen Sid’s famous runes, and he had been happy. At that point, it didn’t matter what the rumors said. I had known he’d have to be a good person, demon or no.  

“I don’t know if he is selfish or not. He’s looking for the machine parts that would save many lives, but arguably it would also will save him. He is very protective and kind toward Boris, but then again, he has had Boris with him so long...It might just be a thing like Hat and his employees.” She shrugged helplessly. “I could use a hundred excuses for his behaviour. A hundred ‘angel approved’ reasons he acts the way he does but none of them would be because he’s a good person, and the more I got to know him and know about him, the more I want to believe that.” She chuckled. “It’ll give heaven a hell of a time, but I really think Bendy breaks the mold, and I have no idea what to do about it. Or if there is anything that _should_ be done about it.”  

I shook my head, smiling. “I believe it too. For all those reasons you mentioned, but also because...Well, down at Yen Sid University, there’s a mural made of runes. People say Yen Sid made it. It’s supposed to help express the core natures of people.” I laughed, remembering all the long faces. “And calm the students. The day that he and Boris showed up at the school, they were both completely worn away. Then, they walked under those runes.” A bit of magic filled my heart as I thought about that mural. “And it just made them _bright_.” I took Alice’s hand. “I don’t think you should worry about Bendy because a bad person just can’t light up like that under those runes. Believe me, I’ve seen the difference.”

Alice nodded and smiled. “I know that now. It just puts me in a unique situation.” She grimaced. “I’m not sure how I’m going to explain myself when I go home.”

“If angels can feel emotions, can’t they tell you would be telling the truth if you just explained it to them?”

Alice shook her head. “Remember how I said I wasn’t sure where Bendy’s intentions laid, or what Black Hat’s feelings were for his employees?”

I nodded and hummed.

“If I can read emotions, why wouldn’t I sense Bendy’s care for his brother or Hat’s possessiveness of his property?” Alice pushed gently. “Angels can’t read demons. There are many stories of demon tricking angels and humans alike. Even if the angels at home can tell I am being honest, they will only think Bendy tricked me.”

That made me frown. She sighed and sat back. “That, and I wouldn’t want the angels back home to focus on Bendy either. We’re supposed to banish imps and lesser demons. The reason I didn’t when I first saw him was because I was here, and even if I wanted to, I can’t without my halo.” She smiled. “It’s a relief I didn’t, actually.”  

I let out a breath. “I'll say,” I said looking sideways. “I can't imagine what would've happened if you had.”

“It would have been one of biggest mistakes that could have even happened.” Alice shook her head. “Especially for Boris.”

I shivered. “I’m glad that didn’t happen.”

Alice pursed her lips. “It makes me wonder how much more I have wrong. It’s made the world a strange and scary place where I was so sure before.”

I thought about that for a moment. “Then just keep asking questions.” I snorted. “It’s what I’ve ended up doing.”

Alice smiled. “Thank you. I hope you’ll be one of my guides while I’m here on the Surface.”

That...honestly surprised me. I blinked at her several times. This girl had always seemed so sure of herself, so wise. I laughed. Me? A guide? I was just fumbling my way along, making mistakes everywhere. Still, that made me smile. I ducked my head. “I would be honored.”

There was a small pause in the conversation. I bit my lip because in this gentle silence, I knew what else I wanted to ask, to talk about. “Do you think you could tell me what that demon’s really having you do? It worries me.”

Alice bit her lip. “We could both be in a heap of trouble if I spill the beans.”

Inwardly I grumbled. So that’s how it was going to be, then. “Okay. Don’t spill the beans then.” I would find out some other way. Because this stunk something to high heavens.

“At least believe me when I say that if I thought this would endanger any of you, I wouldn’t be doing it,” Alice said sincerely. “The work is half finished now. I’ll be out in no time.”

I nodded. “Stay safe tonight, Alice.” I touched her shoulder and rose. “I should check on what’s happened with the Sykes and the police.”

“I should be telling you that. But I’m already running late. Let me walk you first.” Alice smiled. She stood and unlocked the door. The two of us made our way down the halls and toward the front of the building. Curious despite myself, I looked around for any sign of the police or Robert and Bill Sykes.

The police were there. They were all over the front of the building and leading into the gardens. Disgruntled guests eyed them wearily. Alice bit her lip. Employees were rushing about. We reached the front lobby, and Alice stopped. There was tall man talking to a couple of officers.

“This is an outrage! You’re impeding on my place of business!” he snapped.

“I’m sorry sir, but we received a tip. We have to be sure,” the officer said.

“This is ridiculous. If I say there’s nothing here, then there is _nothing here._ This is exactly why I placed my business out here instead of in your pathetic city! So suspicious! You can’t let a soul rest!” the man barked.

“I-I’m sorry, sir. You’ll have to take that up with the chief,” the officer cowared.

“Useless underlings!” he growled, showing shark-like teeth. That made my eyes bulge a little. His skin, on a closer inspection, was scaly and dark. He had a top hat on and a monocle. His suit was made out of rich fabric and fine shades. Alice swallowed and took a step forward. He immediately whipped around to face her. “Alice! You’re late to your shift! What are you doing up here?”

I looked from her to what I had to assume was the demon. “I asked her to show me where the entrance was,” I lied. “I apologize if I caused you any inconvenience.”

“I was just on my way back after, Mr. Hat.” Alice grinned warmly. “Sorry for the trouble.” She bobbed her head. Hat marched up to us. It seemed to temperature in the room dropped as he glared down at her.

“Do you have any idea what this mess is about?” he asked lowly. His pupils changed into a slits.

Alice paled. “N-no sir! Like she said, I was on my way to my shift when she asked for help. Why are the police here?” Her smile was bright. I took a peek at the policeman. They looked just a bit aimless, which didn’t fill me with any confidence. Black Hat sneered. He probably would have wrinkled his nose if he had one. The effect considering he didn’t was much worse.  

“Some fool decided to _prank_ us and call the police.” That made me twitch. “Something about one of those Syke brothers being here.” He adjusted his tie. I grit my teeth. I suspected this schmuck knew full well that the Sykes had been here.

“Oh my.” Alice gasped appropriately.

I drifted off in another direction, sensing this might be the best move for both Alice and I at this point, but before I could really make some distance the hellspawn turned in my direction.

“And you, who are you?” Black Hat asked. It seemed some sort of pressure was put on my shoulders when he turned to me. The chill grew worse.

I shifted, trying to regain a solid position on my feet. The pressure made my head feel a bit muddled. I took a deep breath before answering. “Miss May,” I said shortly. My voice squeaked. “Can I help you?”

“Not unless you know the fiend that has invited this chaos, I just want to apologize for the inconvenience. This rarely ever happens. I hope Ms. Alice was good service to you,” Black Hat gestured to her with a wave. His demeanor becoming a bit more relaxed.  

A long breath of air escaped me. That...was not what I’d expected. For a moment I considered saying I’d been the one to call the police. But even I have the sense to take luck when it’s given. “Ms. Alice was a lot of help. Thank you.”

Alice smiled genuinely.

“Good. We hope you have an enjoyable rest of your time here.” He nodded to me and then looked back at Alice. “Get to Flug. He’ll be wondering where you are.”

“Yes Mr. Hat, sir.” Alice dipped her head and, giving me one more tight smile, turned away. She disappeared back down the hall, braid swinging behind her.

I watched her leave and glanced at the demon. “Good night, Mr. Hat.” He smiled and nodded to me before going to the gardens. With that, I raced around the side of the building, looking for a good hiding spot before tying on my bracelet. The runes activated, and I re-entered the building, looking for Alice. I wandered a number of halls trying to get to the back as quickly as possible. I had just been about to look at the map when I was stopped by two officers.

“Wha..?” was pretty much my answer when they approached me. How had they seen through the runes? Was there something extra noticeable about me right now? I looked down at my outfit in confusion.

“Think it was a prank?” one said to the other. Oh, they were walking past me.

“Dunno, I would think so…” I scowled. “Except.” The other paused.

“Except what?”

“The detectives’ car. They found a bomb. It was a miracle it hadn’t gone off while they were driving it,” the first said. My jaw dropped. I stopped, hurrying after a moment to catch up to them. They’d _driven_ the car with the bomb in it!?! Thank the stars I’d gone to Alice. They wouldn’t have survived!

“So, they were here.” The second sounded serious.

“Yeah,” the other scoffed. “But this place is a maze, and that demon could have him stashed anywhere. We’ll need a court order to search it thoroughly.”

“And by then, the schmucks will be gone.” A tightness appeared in my chest. Stars. This was unfair.

“Yep.” The other officer cursed as they disappeared around the corner I had come.

I stared at them as they left, a mix of emotions running through me. Stars. They'd nearly killed the detectives, and were still out there on the loose. Which meant all of us were still in danger. It made me shake my head. If only...I don't know. I didn't know how we would be able to be safe from the Sykes.

With that, the night pretty much ended. I searched for Alice, but to no avail. The angel had moved far too quickly for me to catch her, and when I opened my map, it only led me into confused circles back to the mysterious pathway in the woods. I had to find an entrance. If there was, indeed, an entrance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tap here! Dun-Dun-Duuuuuuuun! XD I love Alice. She’s awesome. I love the angel culture. Every time I get to write about it I get excited for what’s to come! And that bomb! This place turns into a complete mad house to minute those two leave! I am so excited for the mess they come back to.
> 
> Mercowe: Yey! A lot of the cast has now reappeared. Now we just need Bendy, Boris and the others to come back with the cog.  
> Oh, an Blookyberry, wish granted. :D Sammy and Finley and Dr. Boo are now all here!! Me and Tap were actually writing this entry when you made the comment that you missed them, and we both thought that your timing was impeccable.


	61. October 27, Thursday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so I need to catch these entries up to present time where Bendy and Boris are again, so I'm going to be posting a couple different entries this week. I hope you enjoy this one!

Pegasus’ blazing tailfeathers. I’m still angry about losing Alice last night, and today has done nothing to improve my mood.

I went to work today as usual, grumpy and just a bit jumpy since I know the Sykes are still out there, trying to _kill_ people. After work, I decided to stop by the detectives, because after last night, I just needed to see with my own eyes that they were okay. I arrived at the precinct in the late afternoon.

Ringtail and Featherworth were buried in files. Everything on the Sykes since they were born. The raccoon detective was livid about last night. She wasn’t happy they got away. Featherworth took the time to thank me for my tip and in helping them find the bomb.

I just shrugged, thinking about how close it had all gotten. A random thought happened to hit me, and I mentioned the fact that we knew Ratigan was hiding somewhere at Granny’s house. I asked if they had any good ideas on how we might stop him. (I hadn’t asked Granny yet what had happened with Basil, so I was still looking for solutions.)

The detectives promised to get some of the other ‘scaled’ officers on the case. Breaking and entering was still a crime, even if it was on a small scale, after all. They were going to find him.

I thanked them for their help and headed out. _That_ was when I noticed it. I had been looking for a paper on my way, because I knew today was when Xedo had planned to release his article on the Ink Machine, and I was curious to read it.

I found a newspaper alright.

But it wasn’t on the Ink Machine.

Yesterday, they found the mayor’s body.

He had been discovered in the harbor area, in one of the dumpsters behind a loading zone. Just dumped there...with no ceremony. He had been stabbed and robbed. In addition to that...terrifying image, there was no sign of his wife or daughter. Speculation about foul play abounded. There were a few mentions of enemies to the deceased politician, but I really only skimmed over that part, because I had a pretty good idea of what I thought had happened.

The schmuck had failed. And they had killed him for it. It made me shiver and realize what this could mean. Those Sykes brothers would see this too. They would know he had failed, and they could now see what lay ahead of them if _they_ failed too. They had just barely failed in killing the detectives. Stars, they would probably be more determined than ever to meet their goals now. I crumpled the paper. I’d meant to read about the Machine afterwards, but I was too shaken up at that point.

I didn’t really want to be alone at the apartment either, and it felt too soon to try and visit Alice again to figure out what was happening with her, so I decided to head over to Granny’s, maybe perform a few more experiments in the backyard. I’d finished translating half of the page Bendy gave me by now, so I figured sharing it with Oddswell would be a good idea as well.

What I found when I arrived at Oddswells was _pure_ chaos.

“Now, you make sure you keep those safe, Maid Marian! He better use them sparingly! I don’t know when we’ll have more. You tell Little John I say hello.” Granny was waving off a pretty fox who waved back and hurried away. Police cars were there. People were milling around the yard and street. Granny was going from place to place like a veritable bumble bee. Red and Dr. Oddswell were talking to the officers. Fin and Sammy were standing to the side. Sammy looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack, and Finley looked like he was going to punch someone.

This did not bode well. A few different potential events flashed through the my mind. The mob had attacked someone. They’d found Ratigan. Ratigan had stolen something from the house. The boys were back with another item. I took another look around, but nothing seemed to indicate what had happened. Since everyone else was busy, I approached Fin and Sammy. “What’s happened?”

Sammy jumped and squeaked. Finley put a hand out to calm him down. “Easy there, Sammy! It’s fine. It’s just our new friend, Holly.” Sammy sighed and relaxed instantly...Well, as much as the nervous cat usually seemed to be. Finley turned to me. “Some scum stole it! The key for the pain relief pills! It’s gone!”

A jagged spear ran through me. “What!” But… “But how? Did anyone see who? When?” Was it the mob? Who else would be cruel enough to steal the only salve that those suffering with ink illness _had?_ What a horrid thing to do. It made me mad. Another thought hit me.

Had it been Ratigan? Had this happened because I had forgotten to warn them about him sooner? Was this partially my fault?

“No idea. Some time between an hour ago and two days before that.” Finley’s huge ears fell. “Granny's been giving out the pills they have stocked with a warning to all those sick to try and not take them until they can’t handle it. There are some mooks that don’t look like they’ll listen and others that are gonna try and not take them at all now.”

This was bad. The morale was probably going to plummet. Which meant...people could die. “How did we find out?” I said in a whisper.

“Find out?” Sammy whimpered.

“How did Granny realize it was gone?”

Finley dropped his head. “She was getting more to start a new batch. There have been...a few more patients. Luckily, with Red and us here, she has a lot more help! We were getting things moving, uh, until now.”

“Dr. Oddswell is really angry,” Sammy muttered.

“Do we have any way to make more? More ink?” I thought of the bottle in my bag, reaching down to touch it. I’d give it to Oddswell if it would help.

Finley signed and shook his head. “It was a store that came from those with the disease. It’s ink, but not completely normal ink, so it’s not like we can _buy_ more.” I nodded. That was it then. My tests would have to stop for now. I gripped the straps of my bag. If only I could have figured out more from those first tests. “I’m going to go talk to Oddswell,” I told Finley and walked toward him and Red talking to the police.

“Dr. Oddswell,” I said in greeting.

“What is it no--Oh, Miss May. Excuse me. It’s been quite a day.” Dr. Oddswell straightened up.

“I heard what happened,” I said softly. “I’m sorry about it. Do we have any idea who or how it happened?”

“No,” Red said in a tone that sounded more like her friend Fanny. “The officers are checking the house. Every corner. I bet it will turn out like when I was attacked, with nothing.” Every word was riddled with anger.

“Now, Ms Hood.” Dr. Oddswell glanced at her. She huffed and went into the house.

I frowned. That woman needed a break. Getting attacked, going to prison and having their work stolen as soon as they were released. If anyone could use some time to let go of tension, it was her. I turned to Oddswell. “I still have the ink I gathered for my tests. You can use it to make more of the special ingredient.”

Dr. Oddswell looked at the small inkwell. “Thank you Holly. This will last us for a while.”

I nodded, swallowing as my throat tightened a little as I handed the bottle over. “I wish I knew who or why. What point is there in stealing something that only helps the ill with their pain?” Unwillingly, the anger I felt leaked out.

The Doctor shook his head. “Why is my friend dead? These questions will forever linger, Miss May. Best we push forward.”

I glanced at him, blinking. I’d never heard the good doctor speak that way before. His words held emotion I hadn’t known was possible in him. It seemed that tragedy such as this revealed many things about people. Oddswell had always been an interesting professor, cool, professional, and completely unapologetic in the face of unexpected catastrophe. He’d walked through a room covered in slime with only a comment on how interesting it was that the slime had ‘coheased at this specific level of thickness,’ in other words, that it had turned at hard as mortar. Seeing Oddswell emotional, even a little bit, was strange.

I couldn’t help but stare a moment more before turning back, the image of the scaley doctor looking at the house mournfully burned into the back of my eyelids. “I’m sorry about the loss of Professor Wiseton,” was all I could offer. All anger had deflated out of me.

“As am I, Miss May. As am I. He did a far better job of handling the subjects, giving them hope and care, not that Miss Hood is lacking,” Dr. Oddswell stated. “But...I feel his loss every day here. He was linking something, and the closest we have to his work now...Well.” He turned his large eyes on me. “It’s you and the boys.”

That set my stomach bubbling with anxiety. “I’m glad we have those boys,” I muttered. “I wish I’d been able to meet the professor.” I shifted my feet. “Watching him on the telly as a child was one of the reasons I had the courage to come here and try and learn more about runes.” I couldn’t help but smile at the memory. Sitting on the couch, curling next to my father. “I always loved how excited he was about the digs, how he would just stand there and explain everything forever long.”

“He would have liked you very much, Miss May. I haven’t seen someone with your tenacity since his pupil. Felix, I believe was his name.” I looked up and blinked. Wilson had been the one to teach Felix the cat? “Fine young man he was. Still is. Made quite a name for himself. You both have that sort of spark about you.” Oddswell blink, his tongue flicked out of his mouth for a moment in that weird tick of his.

I smiled. “Thank you, Oddswell. It also gives me courage to be compared to such a brave adventurer.”  

The doctor chuckled. “Well, speaking of adventure, I have an offer. Since you won’t be able to work on this,” he lifted the bottle, “I want you to do the same experiments with water, normal writing ink, paint, and a number of other liquids.”

My eyes widened as I understood. “To see the differences.”

Dr. Oddswell tapped the side of his nose and smiled. “I knew you were bright. And also...if you are feeling brave…” I immediately tensed, wary of anything Oddswell would consider _brave_. “Dr. Boo and I are going to go observe that trinket the boys gave us. I thought someone of your expertise could consult us.”

Trinket? What was that? It took a moment for my mind to process what me meant. _Trinket_. He meant the part. I clicked my tongue. Yes. If the special ingredient had been stolen, then that could mean the part was in danger as well. I nodded shortly, unsure of how I could be of use, considering I’d been unable to find anything unusual about it when I’d seen it before.

“Fantastic. We’ll meet there in the morning.” The lizard smiled.

“I’ll see you there in the morning, then.” I nodded once more and drifted away from the crowd. Everyone was busy, and I would only get underfoot here. I wracked my brain, because I still didn’t want to go home. It was then that I remembered I did have one more thing to do. This, at least, brought a smile to my face, and I headed back toward the busier part of Toon Town.

After all those weeks trailing Fairfax and going homeless, strangely, I’d gotten to prefering to walk everywhere rather than taking the bus or a cab. So after a long walk, I arrived at the little diner Granny and I had had lunch at. I opened the door and drifted inside, looking around for Max or his nervous cousin.   

Instead, it was the big cat or badger thing behind the bar. “Hello, little Miss! Welcome to Pete’s. How may I serve you?” Pete’s booming voice greeted me.

I eyed him with disappointment. “I’ll take a chocolate parfait.” Maybe Max would bring out my order, then.

“Sure thing!” He winked and disappeared into the back. I sighed and took a spot at the bar, resting both hands on the counter. At least I knew I would enjoy the parfait. A newspaper sat open next to me on the counter. It was on the Ink Machine page. I picked it up, remembering that I still hadn’t read it.

Pete came back with the parfait and placed it in front of me. “Ah yeah, the news is something today, ain’t it? Ya never know what you’re going to get in this city anymore.”

I hummed noncommittally as I tried to read and took a bite of parfait. “Yes. A disease that melts people is about as strange as it gets.”

He scoffed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if those little moochers are doing something.” He put his fists on his waist and lifted his chin.

That made me blink and stop reading. “What?”

The man shook his head, and I looked up as he now had my full attention. “Alright, little lady, ya gots ta understand something ‘bout me. Petey here actually _knows_ those scrawny ‘Bbros,’ and let me tell ya, they ain’t all they’re cracked up to be.” Just what was he talking about?

“Oh really?” He’d struck me as very prideful since the first time I’d met him, so maybe he felt a need to brag about something he obviously didn’t know anything about to get attention? “Why do you say that?” The spark of anger from earlier reignited, and I smiled politely to hide it.

“Because they worked for me! Long before all this illness stuff,” Pete said. He pointed at me and closed an eye. I narrowed my eyes and leaned back a little, unconvinced. “They were mechanics in my shop, back out in that tiny town. No schooling, no papers, claimed they could do the job anyway.” I blinked. That...sounded like what they’d said. “I found it in my heart to give them a chance. They did an alright enough job that I hired them.” Pete shrugged. “And even when the locals warned me about that little pipsqueak demon being bad news, I ignored them. Figured they were just small-minded and such.”

Frowning and a little uncertain now, I nodded. “And then?”

“Then, that devil nearly killed one of my customers and burned down my shop!” Pete slammed his fist on the counter.

I jumped. Bendy? Burn down a shop? The anger I felt before swelled a bit more. That sounded like a load of rotted apples.

Pete nodded at my shocked face. “I know. It’s hard to believe. He got a fix job wrong, and the vehicle ended up wrapped around a tree. The fella was lucky to be alive. When I confronted him about it, he was livid. Denied the whole thing. I didn’t have much of a choice. I had to let him go.” I think I remembered now. They’d talked about this during the boy’s trial. This schmuck was their previous employer. Slowly, I felt my jaw tightened as I continued to listen. “You’d think he’d be grateful that’s all that happened, and that I let his wolf keep working, but no.” Pete sighed. Boris had had to put up with this piece of hogwash without even his brother? “A week or so later, my shop’s on fire, the wolf nowhere in sight. I was nearly trapped in there!” Pete put a hand on his chest. “And then, he has the gall to get into a fight with me! Right in front of the police!”  

I slammed my hand down on the counter. “Then, just where were you when we went to trial, then. Huh, Mister?”

Pete seemed taken aback by my anger. “Why, I was visiting my dear old mumsy out of the country!”

I glared at him. “Let me tell you a little story then, Mr. Pete.” Mangy, wet dogs, I’d contact Max through Mickey. I’d had enough of this! “You see, I was at the trial for the boys. And I testified on their behalf.” I paused half a second to let that sink in before I continued, cutting off any attempt of his to talk.

“And during that trial, they not only proved Bendy and Boris’ innocent, the entire world saw Wakko Warner start to _melt_ in front of national television. Not to mention, they found no evidence of Bendy _or_ Boris being involved in that fire. Those two, one of who happens to be barely more than a kid and the other who happens to _be_ a kid despite the way each of them acts, are both out there trying to help those who are suffering something terrible. So, I swear to you, if I hear you talk bad about them for one more minute, I’ll make you regret it.”

Pete burst with laughter. “Well, it seems I found one of their followers. How cute. Look, little miss. I couldn’t care less if that wolf is the next president. All I’m saying is this, Bendy decided he didn’t like me and bad things happened after that.”

I studied him. “I wonder about that.” It was funny how he’d just disappeared like he had.

“I got outta there before they got worse. Maybe he didn’t do anything, but there’s a reason demons are seen as bad luck. Maybe he didn’t even know he was doin’ anything.” Pete shrugged. “I just don’t want to mess with that stuff. I washed my hands of Sillyvision. Those locals mighta been right, and I didn’t want to find out for sure.”

That made something snap inside me. “Well.” I stood. “Mr. Pete. I can say about the same of you.” I paused and reached into my bag. “If I could leave you with a note before I go?” I gestured for his hand.

Pete blinked. “A note?” I only gestured for his hand again. He narrowed his eyes but put out his hand. I smiled and wrote out the rune quickly on his hand before stepping back.

“You talk quite a lot for someone who knows practically nothing about what those boys are like. I hope you learn _the benefits of silence._ ” I activated it.

Pete laughed and then stopped when nothing came out. He tried to say something and stopped. His eyes widened. And for the barest moment it was like I was watching a strange contorted mime show. I shook my head at him. “Have a good day. You’ll probably go back to normal within about a week.” ...Or a little longer, considering the vehemence I’d put in the spell. I spun on my heel and walked out the door quickly.

After I exited the diner, I practically started to run. My heart beat hard as I flew down the street. I shouldn’t have done that. I really shouldn’t have done that. It was immature and an irresponsible use of a rune. I had never done anything like that before. I hurried faster.

But, heavens, it had been satisfying to see that smug smile drop from his scruffed face!

He was probably going to call the cops. My stomach dropped, and at this point, surprisingly, I was okay with being home alone. So, off I rushed back to the apartment and locked the door behind me. This is where I still sit.

I’m going to be so embarrassed if it’s Ringtail and Featherworth who come and knock on my door.


	62. October 28, Friday (Part One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yey! It's halloween! I hope you guys are all having fun!

It was.

There was a knock at the door. I had been sitting at the table, reading a reference book to help translate as I ate my cereal when it happened. Knowing who it must be, I took as long as I humanly could to get up from my breakfast and move across the apartment living room. I looked through the peephole and groaned. Featherworth and Ringtail waited patiently outside the door. For a moment I rested my head against the door. It had been worth it. It had been worth it! Then, I remembered I was supposed to meet Oddswell and Dr. Boo in a little bit. I thunked my head against the door again and finally opened it.

“Hello, Detectives,” I said wearily. Featherworth was standing there, spine straight in posture as usual. Ringtail had her hand on her waist, and she gave me a look.

“You know, we’re the ones that knock, right?” Ringtail asked with a smirk.

I scratched my head, feeling even more embarrassed. “You heard me knocking my head against the door then, I assume?” I looked down at the concrete pavement outside the door.

Ringtail snickered. Featherworth cleared her throat. “Good morning, Miss May. We are here about a...complaint.” My shoulders hunched.

Ringtail burst into laughter. I straightened up, blinking. “You are amazing!” She clapped me on the shoulder. I opened my mouth, half in wonder, half in a confusion. “They’ll have to go through _years_ of legal nonsense! Hahaha!”

I tilted my head at her, the smallest smile of relief and confusion forming. “Really?” This was turning out a lot better than I’d expected.

“Detective Ringtail.” Featherworth frowned. She sighed when her partner didn’t stop. “May we come in?”

I nodded, feeling a lot better now. I locked the door behind them when they walked into the living room. “Feel free to sit down.” I waved at a couch.

They did. “Now, what my partner means is that there isn’t really any jurisdiction when it comes to...well, muting someone with magic.” I blinked again. Well...that made sense. “So the charges set against you won’t be going through.” I perked up. So, I _wouldn’t_ have to go to the police station? That was wonderful!! “But we are here to warn you that they will be working on laws for magic and runes or looking for any old laws on them.” I ducked my head, nodding. I’d actually heard about a few in my research, but I didn’t particularly want my own curse to be bounced back at me as recompense...or a beheading. They were old laws, and the second one was from Wonderland.

Ringtail burst into laughter again. “You hit a loophole, and it’s brilliant! Serves that slob right! We’ve been around him for insurance fraud but haven’t nailed him yet, not that he knows that!”

I sat up straight. What?! “I knew there was something fishy about that rotten apple!” I leaned forward, snapping my fingers.

“Detective, that is sensitive information.” Featherworth gave her a disapproving glance. Ringtail waved it away.

“It’s Holly, Joan! Holly! The dame that saved our lives! If I can’t trust her with a little information, I might as well turn in my badge.” Ringtail scoffed and grinned. Featherworth rolled her eyes but smirked.

I blinked again. Oh, I hadn’t really thought about that. Then I smiled. It filled my heart with relief all over again that Alice and I had been able to succeed in that. “It’s okay, Ringtail. You both are amazing cops. I wouldn’t want to compromise you two in any way.” I grinned. “I wish you luck in catching Pete, though. That man needs a _real_ reckoning.”

The detectives smiled. “If it isn’t us, it’ll be Bendy.” Ringtail snickered.

“Rachel, we agreed,” Featherworth warned. But then a mischievous glint entered her eyes. “We don’t know he’s here, and if Bendy comes across him, then that’s that. He is a smart young man. He won’t do anything to Pete.”

I thought of Bendy’s temper during the trial and then of how downright dirty Pete was. No, good things would not happen if those two came in contact. “I hope that it never happens then,” I said with a shake of my head.

“I want front row tickets.” Ringtail grinned. I pressed my lips together as I tried to hold back my own smile at the image. This Pete guy must have done a real number for Ringtail not to care _this much_.

I looked at the clock. “Well, unless you have any other business with me, I have an appointment.” For a second, I wondered if there was anything I could send with them. Brownies or something. They’d been so kind, especially considering the amount of anxiety I’d been under when they’d arrived. I was grateful about the way they had handled it. Unfortunately, all I had was a soggy bowl of cereal.   

“Sure, we’ll get out of your hair. Be good and don’t go ‘hexing’ anyone else.” Ringtail made air quotes with her fingers and rolled her eyes.

I snorted in laughter at her expression, covering my face with a hand. “No. I won’t. It’s not something I’m usually inclined to do.”

“Have a good rest of your day, Miss May.” Featherworth nodded to me with a kind smile. The two detectives left on a good note, and I was able to finish getting ready to go to Xedo’s apartment. I walked out the door, bag in hand and took the bus to Xedo’s. As I neared, I scanned the area for Oddswell and Dr. Boo.

I found Dr. Boo standing on the street outside the building and approached him, hands on my bag. “Good morning, Doctor,” I said, cheerful after my interaction with the detectives.

“Good morning.” Dr. Boo dipped his large beak down in greeting. His thick glasses hid his eyes. “The doctor is running behind this morning. Granny had an attack, and he wanted to make sure everything was stable before he left.”

My heart dropped, and I frowned. Granny. I swallowed. I hoped she was recovering. “How did she look when you left?”

“Tired, but resolute. She is a very stubborn woman, and I mean that in the best of terms.” Dr. Boo smiled. “Should we wait or head up? Dr. Oddswell didn’t say one way or the other.”

I started up the stairs. “Well, there isn’t any point in standing around awkwardly on the street. Let’s go inside. Oddswell knows where Xedo lives.”

The little crow nodded and followed me. He seemed to study everything around him, but it was hard to tell exactly where he was looking, due to his glasses. I wondered what sort of doctor he was, whether he was like Oddswell or more like Wiseton. He didn’t seem that much like Wiseton, the professor had always had an eager glow to him. He didn’t have the piercing, calculating stare Oddswell had either, though. He was simply curious. I felt that if I were to get to know him a bit more, I would come to like him. 

I knocked, and Wiston opened almost immediately. There was a wild energy about him. “ _It’s fireproof!_ ” he exclaimed as a greeting. I blinked. Uh... “It refuses to burn! It refuses to leave! _I can’t take this anymore!”_ It refuses to leave? Did he mean...Fireball?

“Wiston? What exactly do you mean?” I’ll admit, that wasn’t the best question to ask in the situation, but my head had just started to reel at the idea of a flaming deer-hawk, so I was a little distracted.

“The little monster _you_ set on me!” I winced. “It’s the torment of my life! Did you know it stole the chicken out of my sandwich yesterday!” Honestly, I’d pretty much forgotten about the creature until Wiston had mentioned it a few days ago. So, this was where it had been coming for food. “I had it up to here with the damn thing, so I tried to scare it off with fire. Instead it just got closer! I was like, ‘Fine! Have it your way!’ and stuck the match into it and--and--and _nothing!”_ Wiston threw his arms up. “What am I supposed to do about this freaky thing! What did I ever do to you!” He stomped back into the apartment pulling at his ears.

I froze and an eyebrow twitched. I started to follow him in.

“Oh my,” Dr. Boo stated carefully. “Have we come at a bad time?”

I gave him a hurried wave of my hands. “We’re fine.” Then, I quickly entered the door. “Wiston!” I ran after him. “You tried to _set it on fire_?!” Apples, I should have seen this coming when Wiston started getting moody. Instead I’d laughed and thought it was funny he was so frustrated with the bird’s hide-and-seek act!

“It practically hopped on the match itself! Don’t look at me like that!” Wiston pointed at me.

I raised a brow at him. “You’re not even supposed to have matches, what else were you trying to light on fire before the poor thing?”

“ _Nothing!_ Because that thing is ruining my life!” Wiston barked. Suddenly, a strange noise came from the window. The deerhawk fluttered in. “Agh!” The fox collapsed on the couch, his hands covering his face. Fireball made a small noise in it’s throat before hopping onto the coffee table, looking at Wiston.

“Goodness,” Dr. Boo breathed softly. “What a sight.”

I stared at the deer hawk. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?” I asked it, moving in between the animal and Wiston. The thing _was_ tormenting Wiston. It had just swooped in like this was it’s roost. But why?

I glanced at the cowering fox. “Wiston, have you been doing anything specific when it shows up?”

“No?” He lifted his head up. The bird leaned around me to ‘aahhh’ at him. Wiston scowled at it. Dr. Boo adjusted his glasses.

I looked from the bird to Wiston. A horrible curiosity came upon me. The animal seemed to want something specific from the fox. What exactly was it? If I stepped aside…

It fluttered up onto his knees and stared at him expectantly. Wiston snarled, but that didn’t seem to faze the creature. It ‘aahh’ at him again. “What! What is your problem!” Wiston demanded. It ‘aahhhed’ again. Wiston sighed and stared at it, deadpan.

I folded my arms, considering asking more questions. Then, I thought about what Xedo had said about Wiston needing to figure this out himself. I shrugged and decided that apparently I needed to just spectate this time. I sitting down on a couch opposite Wiston, I motioned for Boo to join me.

“Is...this normal?” Dr. Boo asked. He didn’t sound judgemental, shocked, or put off. Simply curious.

“I haven’t the slightest idea,” I admitted, continuing to watch. “I don’t think Fireball is dangerous, though.”

He nodded. “This is the younger brother, I take it,” he said quietly.

“Oh, yes." I thought about Snowball. "The other one didn’t take to him like this. She seemed pretty indifferent to him, and she was to one I wash worried he’d burn to a crisp.” I looked around. “Where is Xedo, anyways?”

“Work, he said he’d be back in a--”

The door opened. Xedo stepped in.

“Well now,” Wiston muttered. My eyes swiveled to the older fox. Oh dear. This wasn’t going to be good.

“Oh Wiston, sorry to be late. Seems our guests are here.” Xedo smiled. His eyes went to the bird. He blinked and then looked at Wiston. “Have you offered them a drink yet?”

Wiston’s jaw dropped. “ _That’s it! After everything I’ve been through, that’s your reaction!”_ My eyes swung back and forth between the two foxes. Wiston was going to blow it. The place was going to go up in flames.

Xedo paused and looked at the deer hawk again before looking back at Wiston. “Of course, I believed you brother, you just failed to show me anything to validate it.”

“YOU’RE TERRIBLE!” Wiston wailed. The bird puffed up on his knee. I covered my ears.

Xedo chuckled and shook his head. He turned to me and Dr. Boo. “Is there anything I can get you two before we begin?”

Wiston dropped into a slouch, seemingly giving up. The deer hawk relaxed and started nipping lightly at his sleeve. I felt a pang of sympathy for the boy. “I’m fine,” I told Xedo. “How was work?”

“Everyone is in a tizzy about the mayor. Rumors everywhere, but I’m not letting anyone publish anything without proper sources. I had to fight with some of my journalists today about restrictions.” Xedo rolled his eyes. I raised my brow. “Apparently, Mr. Sykes was more lax.”

That made me scowl. “Well, I’m glad you’re editor-in-chief now. Good luck as you arrange things.”

Xedo adjusted his glasses and went into the kitchen. “Where Dr. Oddswell? He was going to join you, correct?”

I nodded. “He’s running late. Granny had an attack.”  

Xedo’s brows rose. “Oh dear. I hope she is okay.”

“Granny’s down?” Wiston sat up, startling the bird into flutter before calming down. Fireball gave him a dirty look.

I turned to study the bird again. It was almost like Fireball had made an instant bond with Wiston, just like Snowball had with me. There had been three other Dandehogs, but they’d all run away immediately. It made me wonder if there weren’t three other people out there who suddenly had a dandehog attached to them. Although...I felt a pang of guilt. I’d kept on leaving Snowball at home this week because I was worried she’d float away. And I didn’t want to explain what she was over and over again. She’d glared at me this morning, all frizzed up and in a huff. Maybe I should go back and bring her with me after we finished here.

“She’s fine. Don’t worry,” Dr. Boo assured them. “I wouldn’t mind a glass of water.”

I looked at the door. Dr. Oddswell was taking quite a long time. I hoped nothing had gone wrong.

We waited for a few more minutes. Dr. Boo and Xedo chatted a bit about the news. Wiston started to pay attention the bird, offering his hand to it and trying, again, to figure out what it wanted.

Dr. Oddswell came in a few minutes after. I had sort of wondered if Oddswell would have a reaction to the deerhawk when he came in, but true to form, the good doctor didn’t even blink when he saw it. He only said, “Interesting,” until he turned to Xedo expectantly.

I snorted. By this point, I would take Oddswell commenting on something at all as a sign that he was surprised. The lizard just doesn’t do reactions. It’s not in his nature.

Xedo led us into the study. Every shelf and desk was covered in books, files, and papers. “Pardon the mess. I haven’t had time to put away my research as of late.” I stared at the place in wonder. It was like a hurricane of information. It was beautiful.

“It is okay, Mr. Tiptail. We understand,” Oddswell said. Xedo showed us to a table he did have cleared off. The metal box was already sitting on the corner. Xedo gave it an odd look. “Is everything okay, Mr. Tiptail?” Oddswell commented.

Xedo frowned. “I didn’t leave it there.” The smile on my face dropped, and I turned to Xedo with wide eyes. Uh-Oh.

Xedo however didn't seem overly concerned. He pulled out his key and unlocked it. The doll sat in the middle of the box, smiling up at us all. Oddswell adjusted his glasses, his tongue flickering out of his mouth.

“Seems fine.” Oddswell narrowed his buggy eyes. His cool face didn’t seem to match his words.

A chill ran up my spine nonetheless. Maybe Xedo had forgotten moving it? A smaller darker voice in my mind replied, what if the doll had moved itself? The fox hummed and crossed his arms.

Dr. Boo leaned up to get a better look. “This is the part? This little doll? It doesn’t seem like much, does it?”

Dr. Oddswell pulled on thick gloves. “That’s the brilliance of the Micco. Wilson told me that things were hardly as they seemed when it came to their magic. They were brilliant people! I am not surprised that such a small and simple thing like this could bend the very fabric of reality.” Dr. Boo raised a brow. Dr. Oddswell reached into the box and lifted out the doll. He turned it this way and that, his large eyes taking in every detail. He hummed for a moment and placed it on the desk. “Did you notice anything about it, Miss May?”

I looked over the doll again, searching for anything I could have missed the first time. I sighed. “No. I looked at it once before, and I couldn’t find anything strange then, either.”

Dr. Oddswell hummed again. “And I am to understand that it takes on the form of the last person it touched?”

“Bit,” Xedo said.

“Excuse me?” Dr. Oddswell looked to him.

I nodded. “It has to bite you. That’s why you have to wear gloves.”

“Not touch.” Dr. Oddswell sounded fascinated, which for him was the equivalent of jumping up and down in excitement. “But bite.”

“And the last person was that young man, Bendy?” Dr. Boo asked, looking from the doctor to the doll. “It looks just like him.”

“Yes, it created some sort of bond,” Dr. Oddswell said, picking it up again. “But how? The mouth is stitched.” That was my question. Oddswell pulled the doll closer to him and thumbed its jaw. “Hold on a moment.” He pinched it. It opened. “Well.” He hummed with that interested tone. “What have we here?”

Curious, I peeked inside as he opened the mouth again.

“No teeth or any sharp object to ‘bite’ with. Miss May, what to you make of this?” He tilted the doll so I could see further into its mouth. In the back of its throat was a symbol. I stared at it. I had seen that. I paused a moment, looking through my memories. There was only oh so many times I could have. I blinked again. It was the symbol I didn’t recognize that had been on the map. I let out a breath of wonder.

“Dr. Oddswell. That rune was on the map the boys had.” I hesitated. “It must have something to do with the machine then?” I searched harder inside the mouth for any other runes, any indication on how the Micco had created the doll, done this rather dumbfounding work of magic.   

There was nothing else to be seen but a little stain under the symbol. (Which I stared at intensely, I’ll tell you.) “Something to do with the machine?” Dr. Oddswell asked and looked again. “Do you have any idea what this symbol means?”

I shook my head slowly. “I’ve never seen that symbol anywhere before the map. I did a bit of research when I was trying to figure out how to alter it, and during that time, I looked for it in quite a few books, but there were no references.” I hesitated. “It’s just a hunch, and we’ll have to wait and see if the pattern remains the same with the other items they bring back, but maybe, just maybe, that symbol is meant to signify the machine or something associated with it. The map had to have had some way to pinpoint _what_ it was looking for, after all.” I clicked my tongue and tapped my lip, thinking. “It’s just so strange that there’s _only_ one symbol. For a working this complex, I’d expect a couple lines of runes and rune circles to boot. At least, I’d think there would be a rune circle and a few more runes.”

“Is it possible those are on the inside of the doll?” Dr. Boo spoke up. I looked at him. That was a brilliant idea! But checking it...would be difficult.

Oddswell turn to him. “What do you mean?”

“Something similar to sewing. You sew and then turn it inside-out to hide your work,” Dr. Boo said. Which was where the problem came in. We couldn’t touch the doll without hurting Bendy.  “We could make a cut to--”

“Sadly no,” Dr. Oddswell cut him off. “One of my subjects is linked to it. Whatever we do to the doll will affect him.”

“Or anyone bonded to the doll, honestly,” I added.

Dr. Boo hummed. “That is a complication.” He tilted his head and showed his eyes behind his glasses. It was the first time I saw a gleam in them. “Fascinating! They made sure their creation couldn’t be dissected and copied without there being rather dire consequences.”

“You see why Wilson was so interested in them?” Dr. Oddswell said with a smirk. Dr. Boo hummed in agreement.

My find filed through potential ways we could get past it. One option came to mind, but it made me grimace. “If somehow we bonded it to someone who was no longer alive,” I muttered. “But that would still be ghastly, even if they were dead.”

Oddswell looked at me with that spark in his eyes that I knew meant trouble. Oddswell had always been willing to go farther than I was. “For the sake of science, sometimes ghastly measures are needed.”

I shuddered, but didn’t reply. He did have a point. This was important enough. But still...My stomach lurched at the thought.

“I’ll get in contact with the local morgues and hospitals,” Dr. Boo said.

“No, the school.”

“No need.” Oddswell interrupted. I blinked. I had been thinking of the cadavers the science students used. At least then, the poor souls knew their bodies would be used for science when they had died. “I have a good idea who to call. Dr. Puphead offered his services in any way he could, and I know of his reputation. We don’t want this affair to get out. He is a man of honor and will know how to be discreet.”

I nodded and shuddered again.

The doctors looked over the doll a bit longer. Dr. Boo asked about the possible benefits to the doll could have for the medical world. Xedo mentioned he found it melting. I didn’t pay them much attention. It wasn’t long before the doll was locked away in its metal box, and Xedo made sure to put it back behind the false wall he had it hidden in. I couldn’t help but glance at the table again. It had moved. I thought again. No. I couldn’t ignore that. Something was wrong. It sent an intense amount of frustration through me. We’d just _barely_ had the vial of Oddswell’s special ingredient stolen and now something strange had happened here? It was like...What if there was someone here like Ratigan, what if somehow he’d come here and was now just waiting for us to leave to take the item?

I stared at the box hard.

And reader, you may call me insane for writing this, but it almost felt like it was watching me back. A long, intense shiver ran up my spine at that moment, and I was forced to turn away. I looked at Xedo. “Have...you ever felt something strange from that?” I asked quietly.

Xedo looked to me and then back at the box. “I always thought it was the old magic that made my fur stand on end. It’s something I don’t understand. Of course, I find it strange.” He looked back at me and winked. “It will remain that way until we can figure it out. If we can.”

We moved out of the room, much to my mental relief. “Does that mean that strange things like the box moving by itself have happened before?”

Xedo looked at me a moment more before nodding. “If I didn’t know better, I would swear it’s a living thing.”

“How long has it been going on?”

Xedo shrugged. “Since you brought it to me.”

That eased my fears a little bit. If someone had been preparing to steal it, they would have done it by now then. “And you’ve never seen how it moved?”

“Not once,” Xedo muttered. “And it hasn’t left the box either...At least, it’s always in there when I check. I have no idea how it would get out either, except magic.” Which it happened to possess an unknown amount of. I swallowed.

“That must be...very creepy.” For a moment, I had the thought and desire to ask Xedo to let me stay here and just watch it for a day or two, see if I could catch it moving. But then, I killed the thought. I had a feeling the doll was something that wouldn’t act out while being watched. But then again, if it was the doll moving, what was the purpose? Other than being intensely creepy and spooking anyone who noticed.

Xedo chuckled. “Your cogs are showing. What are you contemplating?”

I glanced up, blinking. “I was thinking of sitting in the room and just watching it for a long time. Have you ever tried that?”

Xedo’s shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. “Sadly, I haven’t found the time.”

I didn’t even know why he was laughing, but I blushed, feeling embarrassed. “Ah, that makes sense. You have a lot of responsibilities after all and…” I glanced at the office again. “Maybe I’ll come by after work today and watch it Saturday,” I mused. Tomorrow was my day off.

Xedo chuckled. “You are an interesting person, Holly May.”

I shrugged, smiling. “I haven’t the slightest idea why you think that.” I honestly didn’t. I was the sort of person content sitting in at home and reading old books. That was about as close to the definition of boring as a person can get. “I admire you, Xedo. You have faced a good many difficult circumstances and dealt with them without a single complaint.” I smiled.

Xedo shook his head with a good natured smile. “I learned it from my father.”

After this, Dr. Boo and Oddswell continued to talk softly together. It was mostly semantics about observing the ink and details of science I'm entirely familiar with. In the end, I decided my role here had been fulfilled, and I bid them all goodbye.

Walking down the street, I considered how much time I had. Then, I decided. I would swing by the apartment and pick up Snowball. I might get strange looks at Betty’s store, but the poor animal deserved to come. I thought of Wiston and Fireball when I’d left. Fireball was still trying to communicate with the fox. It was even offering him some kinda sliced meat from the kitchen. Wiston was shaking his head at it in confusion. I have to admit. That made me laugh.

“No, I don’t want to eat that. Especially, since it’s been in _your_ mouth!” Wiston said. The deerhawk turned it’s head in a very deer like manner. It almost looked disappointed.

Anyway, this thought is what made me decide to be brave. I picked up Snowball, much to her joy. However as a precaution, I fashioned a little bit of soft cloth and string to make her a leg leash of sorts so that I could be sure she wouldn’t float away. More confident with that, I attached it to a button on my shirt and allowed the small animal to roam. Snowball was ecstatic and, although she was annoyed with the leash at first, soon she took advantage of it, jumping up with all possible force and floating above my head at the end of it, for all the world like a furry balloon.

Then, I went to work.

Betty was a mountain of bubbly joy at the sight of Snowball. She thought the little creature was the most precious thing. She cleared off a shelf behind the counter and placed a pillow from her apartment as a makeshift bed. She assured me that Snowball would always be welcomed in her shop. Bimbo even came down to give it a look-see. Needless to say, Snowball adored Betty. Betty spoiled the critter rotten.

Inside the store, I let Snowball off the leash, and she _pinballed_ around the room, curious to explore every little bit and know all the smells. By the end of the day, though, she’d exhausted herself and was taking a nap on Betty’s pillow. I left the store with Snowball soundly asleep in my pocket. As I walked out the door, I reviewed the things I knew I had planned. I needed to perform those other tests that Oddswell asked about. I also was determined to go see Alice/follow her to whatever was happening to her. Last of all, I had to finish the errand I’d started at the diner yesterday. So, with determination, I headed toward the venue for the Fantasia circus.


	63. October 28, Friday (Part Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters today! Yey!

Honestly, when Mickey and his friends had visited the store and told me to come by and visit, I hadn’t taken the invitation seriously. I’d never thought I would take up an opportunity to do it. I wouldn’t have a reason to. Now I did, and the idea of going to visit a group as famous as them made me a bit nervous, self-conscious.

When I got to the tent, however, I was distracted by how beautiful the place was. Light shone down in odd spots along the ground, highlighting bunny kids as they hopped around with props. A strong man was carrying two anvils with bunny kids laughing on top. The designs of the tent and some posters distracted me until I noticed that a couple gymnasts were practicing with a tightrope and balance weights. The place was practically breathing with life and energy. Huge animals, tigers, bears, camels...and even the odd flock of ducks played with their trainers in rings and cages.

I probably stood around staring for a good five minutes. Then a clown approached me. “Ya seem a little lost there, missy!”

I laughed nervously, his approach taking me by surprise. “Oh, hi! Um, I’m a friend of Miss Betty’s? I had a question for Mr. Goofy, if he’s available.”

“Betty! Why! I haven’t seen that girl in ages! She really should swing by. It’d be great to have her sing for us.” The clown shook his head.

I tilted my head. Betty could sing?

“Sorry, where’s my manners? I’m Koko the Clown! Ol’ friend of Betty Boop. If your a friend of her’s, you’re a friend of mine.” He offered me his hand.

I smiled and shook it. “Charmed to meet you. I’m Holly May.”

He pulled his arm back...and left his hand in mine. I stared at it in horror. If I hadn’t been born in a Zany town, I tell you…I might have screamed. “Well, no time to stand around shakin’! If it’s Mr. Goofy, he’ll be in the back.” He shook out his sleeve and another hand appeared.

I carefully unhinged the fingers of his leftover hand and offered it back to him with a little shake of my head. He laughed. “Sorry! Can’t help a good gag! It gets people every time!” He turned it and showed me a tag. It was a dummy hand.

I laughed, feeling a little better now that I knew it was a fake hand, rather than a real one. A zany definitely could have done it with a real one. “I suppose you are a clown. It’s your job. It definitely shocked me there.”

The clown laughed again and led me deeper into the maze of tents to an apartment building. “He fixes up some of the junk that we break around here. Goof is a good handy man to have around,” Koko told me. “And this is the only building that the circus owns. It was given to us as a gift to Mick and Ozzy when they were starting off.”

I listened intently. “Who gave it?” They must have loved the circus to gift an entire building.

Koko puckered his painted lips. “Ya know, I’m not sure. Mick and Oswald talk about him with a lot of respect, but I don’t know if I’ve ever caught his name.”

I shrugged. It wasn’t an important question. I was just curious. Whoever had done it, they had been generous. “Do you suppose Mr. Goofy is inside, then?”

“In the back, working on thi--” There was a sudden explosion. “Hehe. You’ll see.” I looked at him in worry before hurrying forward towards where the sound have come from, behind the building. Koko led me around a corner, and I saw what was rolling hills of parts, pieces, and well...junk. There were some props, a tilted spinning wheel, a tangled net, a cage with missing bars, and more. The smoke was coming from the back of the sea of chaos. Koko and I made our way through it until we finally saw the source. Goofy was covered in black ash, coughing.

“Golly! That was a dosy!” Goofy waved a wrench in front of his face to get the smoke away from it.

“Woah there! That could be dangerous, Goof!” Koko grinned.

“Oh! Koko! Howdy there! I was just gettin’ this here generator goin’. Need it for the cages. It’s startin’ to get cold and all!” Goofy chuckled and patted the top of the smoking box. It seemed to groan at him and slouch. Koko laughed behind his hand.

“Well, I have here a little miss that wants to talk to you.” Koko gestured to me. “And good luck with that thing. If anyone can get it going, it’s you.” Koko turned to me. “You’ll be okay here, right lil’ missy?”

I smiled. “I’ll be fine, thank you.” I almost laughed a little. The way that Koko looked at me with concern sort of reminded me of the look people gave me when I was experimenting with runes. Apparently, Goofy got into just as much trouble. That amused me a bit. It made the dog feel more personable somehow. Or at least relatable to me.

I turned to the dog, who was still waving away smoke. “Hello, Mr. Goofy. I don’t know if you remember me, but we met at Betty’s shop before. It’s good to see you.” I offered him my hand.  

“Nice ta meet cha! But ya don’t wanna go shakin’ my hand right now on account o’ me bein’ a mess.” Mr. Goofy gave me a buck-toothed smile.

“Oh. Okay.” I shrugged and dropped my hand. “You didn’t get hurt in the explosion, did you?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“Oh no. I’ve been through worse.” Mr. Goofy let out an odd laugh that one could find endearing. It made me smile.

“That’s good to hear--That you’re okay, not that you’ve been through worse.” I grinned.

He chuckled again and turned to the machine that was calming down. “So what had ya come lookin’ for me today, ma’am? Somethin’ I can help ya with?”

I took another breath, laughing. “Well, you see, I met your son at the diner a couple of days ago. There was something I wanted to do for him.” I scratched the back of my head. “Unfortunately, I had a...rather unfortunate run in with the owner yesterday and feel it would be best if I don’t go back there. I was hoping you could help me find Max?”

“My Maxy? Oh I’m sorry missy, but he’s all bent over another little lady on that there campus.” Goofy stopped to look at me apologetically.

For a moment I just stared at him. Huh? Did he think...? I started to laugh. “No, no!” I waved a hand, laughing some more. The idea was ridiculous to me. For some reason Max felt oh so much younger than me. Although, I suppose we were about the same age. But, I’d never thought about him in that way. “I,” I wiped a tear away, “actually heard about his lady friend. He mentioned she was an aspiring journalist. I have a friend who is a journalist, so I was going to offer to have my friend arrange a tour through his newspaper for the two of them.” I snorted with laughter one last time. “So, he’d have a chance to spend time with her.”

“Oh! Well, that’s mighty swell of you! He’s usually at work--oh, but you said you don’t to go there. Do ya mean that ol’ Petey is back in town?” Mr. Goofy asked with a half raised hand.

I cleared my throat. “Um, yes?”

“I’ll have to drop by! Say hi to my ol’ pal! Wonder why he hasn’t dropped by the cir--Oh that’s right! He had a scuffle with Oswald last time!” Mr. Goofy slapped a hand to the side of his head.

Pete was not improving himself in my opinion. I was starting to feel less and less guilt about what I’d done yesterday with each passing minute. I looked at my watch. “I know that a lot of places close soon since it’s getting later in the evening. Do you know if the diner does?”

“No sir, Pete likes to stay open late. It’s one of the few places open that aren’t a nightclub. It’s one o’ the reasons Mick uses it, besides the food is actually good and all.” Mr. Goofy shrugged. He crouched down and stuck the wrench into the metal box.

I sighed in defeat. I suppose that I should have probably figured that out myself before coming, but, oh well. I smiled at Goofy. “Well, if you would tell him to visit me when he has a moment off, I’m willing to arrange it for him. I’m usually at Betty’s shop for most of the day.”

“Will do, miss. And I know he has them engineerin’ classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Think he has lunch on campus in that there fancy garden in front of that dome building place. Says it’s peaceful and all.” Goofy smiled. He pulled out a burned up part and tossed it to the side. I felt a pang of homesickness for the campus. I didn’t know if I wanted to go on campus. It would make me a bit sad.

I nodded. “Thanks for the tip. Have a good day, Mr. Goofy.”

“You too! Happy to help and good to know my Maxy has friends lookin’ out for him. PJ is a good kid, but they’ve always needed a third hand, if ya know what I mean. Like Mick, Donald and I!” Goofy smiled. “Come by for a show sometime. I’m sure Mickey would be happy to see you and Koko! Koko seemed really happy to introduce you.”

I nodded. “Sure. When’s your next show?”

“Still here, Goofy!” Koko called from somewhere in the sea of stuff.

“Oh! Well, you seem happy to know her!” Goofy called. I could hear the clown laughing.

“She’s a friend of Betty’s!” Koko called.

I nodded. “I work at Betty’s shop, remember?”

“OH! Betty should come too!” Goofy said.

“Fat chance with Bimbo out of the slammer!” Koko called. I nodded, Bimbo hadn’t seemed very happily disposed toward the circus.

“He ain’t still sore about us travenin’?” Goofy asked.

“You can bet your bottom dollar!” Koko answered.

Goofy sighed and shook his head. “That was years ago.”

“You tell him that. Bimbo is great at holding a grudge.” Koko appeared from around a pile. There was a metal ring around his neck that he was twirling like a hoo-la-hoop. He looked at me. “Do yourself a favor and never get on his bad side. That mutt is a ton of trouble.” He said it was an endearing smile.

I smiled back. “I’ll be sure not to. After all, technically he’s my boss.” I laughed.

Goofy nodded. “Well, it may be impossible, but invite him anyway. He needs to get over this and remember that he has friends here.” Koko laughed and patted Goofy’s shoulder. A puff of ash flew into the air. I hid a smile. These two were an enduring pair, weren’t they?

“Good day, Mr. Goofy. I’ll probably see you the next time a show comes on, then.” I waved, moving back through the hills of parts. Koko led me back through the city of tents.

“Do you want to meet with anyone else? Sounds like you know Mickey,” Koko said. He was still playing with that hoop. I smiled.

“Oh, I don’t want to bother anyone. I just wanted to ask Goofy about Max. I’ve only met all of them once at Betty’s.” If I happened to see someone on the way out, I wouldn’t shy away from saying hi, though.

“When it comes to the big boss, Mickey, once is enough sometimes.” Koko nodded. “You should have seen his reaction when he found out about the Bbro stuff and saw ‘his little Boris’ in court. It was a recorded reel in the theater. He’s been lookin’ for them ‘til that nice ol’ woman told him they left town.” Koko laughed. “Poor guy.”

“Oh?” I blinked, feeling bad for Mickey. “Well, maybe it would be nice to stop in for a visit then.” That sounded so sweet. It made me smile to think of the little mouse worrying about Boris.

“He’d like it, and if ya got any news about those boys, I’m sure it would make his day.” Koko grinned.

I nodded. “Good point. Let’s go see him.”

“Fantastic!” Koko clicked his heels and turned. We headed to the biggest tent. I continued to look around, admiring a poster of hundreds of bunny children spilling out of a tent. There were also ones of two elephants dancing the tango, a little elephant with giant ears claiming it could fly, a pair of dancing cats, Koko’s poster with a few other clowns behind him, a tiger, and so many others.

They were all well done. I smiled, wishing the circus had been this fun back in my hometown.

There were also a ton of people that greeted Koko and waved at us as we passed. Everyone was super friendly. Eventually, we got in the main tent to see a pair of acrobats swinging high in the air.

“There ya go! That’s it! Perfect,” Mickey called. He was standing to the side watching the two with a smile. “Keep practicing. Remember that timing is everything.” One of them waved and then flipped off the swing and was caught by her partner. Whoa. They were amazing.

I waited until Mickey and the trapeze artists were done, then I waved at Mickey. “Hi.”

Mickey blinked, then his face lit up. “Hello! Welcome!” Mickey walked up to me and offered a hand. “Wait, I’ve seen you before.” He narrowed his eyes. “At Betty’s!” He snapped his fingers.

I nodded. “I came to talk to Mr. Goofy, and I thought I would come by and say hello.” I looked at Koko, then back at Mickey. “Your friend said you know Bendy and Boris as well?”

Koko grinned and winked.

Mickey gave Koko a raised eyebrow. “I do, a little.” Mickey shrugged and smiled back at me.

“That’s splendid!” I clasped my hands behind my back a little nervously. “I know them too. They’re amazing, aren’t they?” I had just held out my hand to shake his when something small and fuzzy shot out across my arm and as far as her little leash would allow her. Snowball sniffed the air intently, looking at Mickey with curious, intense eyes. I smiled a wry smile. This was becoming a habit with her.

“Oh! Hello there, little fella.” Mickey blinked. “They really are! Do you know where they are?” He reached out to let Snowball touch his hand.

I shrugged. “I have an idea.”  Vaguely. Considering they needed climbing ropes and how they’d said the area they were going to wasn’t horribly far away from the city, I thought I knew where they might be going. I unclipped her, allowing the small critter to scurry onto his hand. She sat there for a moment, staring at him. Then...she made the strangest noise. It wasn’t a squeak. It was more like the sound of her teeth rubbing together quickly. She bounced happily as she did it. “How do you know them?”

Mickey chuckled and wiggled a finger on his other hand at her. “Boris came to one of our shows and asked for my autograph afterward. He’s a swell kid.” Mickey grinned. “That was before I knew who they were. Boy was I surprised when I found out! How about you?”

I thought about that for a moment and laughed. “Technically, I met them when they went to the school to ask for directions to Dr. Oddswell’s house.” I shook my head. “But that was very brief. I really got to know them when...I located them to ask if there was anything I could do to help work on the cure for Ink Illness.” Finishing her sniffing, Snowball scurried up his arm and proceeded to sniff his shirt. She tugged lightly at his ear.

“Heh, I offered them lunch, but it...uh, didn’t work out.” Mickey shrugged. He petted her head carefully.  “I wanted to try again, but I haven’t gotten the chance, and with the circus and the kids and all...Well, it’s hard for me to get away.”

I nodded. “I’m sorry to hear that.” I wiggled my fingers at the small animal, but she seemed determined to do something. “They should be back soon. They’ve been gone for a while now.”

“Gone? They’re on a trip?” Mickey asked interested. Snow jumped, flying up and catching the top of one of Mickey’s large ears and reeling herself down onto his head. He flinched in surprise and chuckled.

“Uh…I’m sorry.” I winced as she surveyed the area proudly from on top. So heads were her prefered spot, huh?

“It’s no problem.” Mickey waved a hand.

I smiled, nodding. I considered his question. How much had they told the mouse? “Yes. Dr. Oddswell sent them to fetch something near the city. Depending on how the trip goes, they should be back soon.” My eyes flicked to Snowball, but she seemed pretty content with her position.

“Oh, I remember hearing something like that.” Mickey nodded. “Do you know the doctor? His case was really quick and straightforward compared to what Boris went through.” Mickey winced. “Poor kid.”

“Yes, I do.” I looked up as a pair of animals starting on a hoop routine nearby. “I took one of Oddswell’s classes before he was fired,” I said a little distantly. Something about what he'd just said struck me odd. Just Boris? He must really like the kid. “I think that the boys' case really set a precedent for Oddswell's. By the time he came to court, people were rallying to get him freed. I was at both trials, and the atmosphere at the second one was entirely different.”

“Good different?” Mickey asked with a smile.

“Oh yes,” I confirmed. “There were people holding signs outside, and hardly anyone listened to the daft--the opposing lawyer.”

“Good! I’m glad to hear they’re making a difference!” Mickey clapped his hands together.

I nodded, but then frowned, shaking my head at the ground. “Although, with current events, I wonder how difficult it will be for them when they return.” I folded my arms. “I don’t know if you heard, but someone stole a key ingredient needed to make the pain pills for the ink victims yesterday.”

“What! Why in the world would someone do something like that!” Mickey threw a hand on his head, his thin tail pointed up in his surprise.

I shook my head. “I haven’t the slightest idea. It was a cruel act. Although, personally, I suspect those Sykes brothers on the run.” The hoopers started doing flips, distracting me for a moment. I frowned.

“Sykes? Who?” Mickey blinked. “Are they in trouble?” He glanced at them but stayed focused on me.

I thought for a moment and realized I’d fudged. The news hadn’t made an official statement about those two yet. I laughed a little uncertainly, scratching the back of my head. It’s not like it would hurt. “They’re mobsters. They’ve been making...attempts on the lives on anyone involved in helping cure the Ink Illness. Robert Sykes used to be the editor-in-chief of the Toon Times until recently. And Bill Sykes…” I shook my head. “He’s just downright trouble.”

“Mobsters! Wh-why! What do they want with the Illness!” Mickey was shaking his head in horror. “And they’re after everyone that…” Mickey swallowed. “Is there anything I can do to help? Do the police know?”

“The police know.” I nodded. “I don’t know what you could do. They are mobsters, after all. Just trust the police to do their job. Everyone’s been very careful recently because of it anyways.” I shut my mouth hard. Not that that had stopped them from nearly killing Featherworth and Ringtail and maybe stealing that ingredient from Granny’s house.

Mickey nodded. “That’s... good. Well, if you are any of them need anything, let me know!” He lifted his hand to his head, grasping the small plant rodent gently and handing her to me.

I smiled at him. “Thank you.” I slipped her back into my pocket with little protest, surprisingly. She poked back out to look around, looking gleeful. “It was nice seeing you again, Mr. Mickey. I’ll be sure to mention you, if there’s anything you can do.”

Mickey nodded. “And tell the boys...I’m sorry, and I would like to see them again. If possible,” Mickey asked hesitantly.

I wondered about that. Mickey seemed truly apologetic. I wondered if something problematic had happened in the past, but I only nodded. “I’ll be sure to do that.” I paused. “Oh, and if you see Max before I do, tell him to come find me.”

Mickey pursed his lips. “Maybe, it’s hard to say with Pete around. He never really forgave me for quitting.”

I perked up, and I just couldn’t help myself. I gave Mickey a pleasant smile. “Well, with time comes change. I’m sure if you try to talk to him again now, he’ll take the time to listen.” I’m horrid. But I hold no regrets.

Mickey chuckled. “Maybe.” He smiled warmly. “You’re a really positive person.”

I winked. “Maybe. But I’m also really well informed.” I grinned and walked away.

Mickey waved. Koko walked me back to the edge of the tents.

It was getting dark, so I knew what I needed to do next. I had gone to Black Hat’s casino twice now trying to learn more about what Alice was doing. This time, I’d have to take a different approach. I took a cab to the casino and immediately put on my ‘Fade’ bracelet. That done, I headed to Alice’s room and waited in a corner, activating and checking my map. She was in there. I waited for a few minutes, leaning against the door and trying to be patient. This place now made me nervous, knowing that demon was here and knowing the Sykes were here. It just...made me nervous. In a few minutes, Alice stepped out and locked her door. She tugged on her vest and then headed down the corridor.

I gave a quiet sigh of relief and followed.

She walked down the halls, further and further back until she reached the room I'd where I'd first seen Polly. Moving quickly, I managed to slide in through the door before it shut behind her. “Good morning, everyone!” Alice called.

There was an audible groan.

“I see that you are a ray of sunshine this evening, Polly!” I looked beyond Alice to see the annoyed angel.

“One more joke from you, and I will take you to the boss!” the cranky woman’s voice snapped, hands on elbows as she walked across the room. She scowled at Alice.

“Why! The night hasn’t even started, and you’ve burned out your patience. What could it--Oh.” Alice ducked her head.

“Yes, _oh._ " Polly scowled. I looked from Alice to Polly. What was oh? I hid behind a door.

“So, Willen is having his turn then?” Alice asked with a sigh. Polly picked up a vase from the counter. 

“Of course! We can’t all sleep in!” Polly rolled her eyes and headed to the doors. “I’m dropping off this vase, you eat something before you pass out again.”

“How did you--”

“I’m fallen, not stupid,” she snipped and shut the door behind her. 

Alice sighed and went to a freezer, pulling out a small tub of ice cream. She took a spoon out of a drawer and pulled off the lid.

Ah. Ice cream for dinner. That sounded great. What were we mourning?

“Who is she to scold me?” Alice muttered into her desert. “I’ve given twice as much as they have, and she--Hmph. She’s just grumpy, that’s all. She always gets grumpy when she’s tired.” She took a spoon full and then another. She winced, but didn’t slow down. Whatever was happening here, I thought, apparently it was wearing them all down. “It’s not like we’re friends or anything. Never laughs or smiles. So grumpy. Don’t let her get to you, Alice. You’ll be back in the city with all your friends soon.” That made her pause. She looked down at the ice cream with a frown. Honestly, I frowned with her. I couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking.

She pouted and started eating again. A moment later, a young man came in. I studied him. So, was this the Willen I’d heard about? He looked over at Alice and scoffed. “Oh bother, what are you doing, Alice?”

“Chilling out,” Alice said around a mouth full of the frozen treat. She cringed. I grinned. He rolled his eyes.

“You idiot,” he muttered and went to a messy work bench.

“What was that? You want a spoon to join me?” Alice asked with a wink.

“Stars no!”

Alice gasped. “You cursed!” Willen smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand.

“Alice, shouldn’t you be working?” Willen asked.

“Polly said I had to eat.” Alice shrugged and stuck another spoonful in her mouth and cringed.

“Ice cream?”

“I didn’t want to desert it.” Alice shivered. My lip trembled, and I covered my mouth to keep from snorting. Willen shook his head and walked up to her. He snatched the tub away from her.

“Normally I wouldn’t care how you torture yourself, but this is just painful to watch!” Willen said and stuffed it back into the ice box.

Alice pouted. “C’mon man, I just wanna feel cool.” I swear, I had tears in my eyes.

Willen cringed and turned around to Alice with a deadpan glare. “I walked right into that one...didn’t I?”

Alice smirked. “Yeah, ya did.”

The door opened and shut again. Polly had returned. “What are you doing with her, Willen? Do you want to catch her stupidity?” Polly scowled. Alice frowned at her. My eyelid twitched. Someone needed to help this _angel_ grow a spot of courtesy.

“Oh, where are my manners?” Alice asked. “I forgot to greet you with the traditional _halo!”_ Alice winked at Polly. I nearly died. Willen’s face fell.

Polly sneered. “Oh! Nice pun! ‘We were angels once!’ Hardy-har-har!”

Alice’s face fell in mild shock before it softened to sorrow. I stopped shaking with laughter. I really wanted to smack this lady. “I sorry, you guys. I-I didn’t mean it like that. I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit.”

Willen rubbed the back of his neck. His shoulders dropped. He looked exhausted. “Thanks Alice. We appreciate it, but--”

Polly lifted a hand to stop Willen. “No we don’t, Willen!” He looked to her in surprise. Really. Really wanted to smack her. “She’s mocking us!”

Alice pouted. “No, no Polly! I was just,” her apologetic expression turned mischievous, “trying to make a heaven out of hell.” She grinned. Willen’s eyes widened. He spurted and then burst into laughter. Alice brightened up and laughed with him.

Polly rolled her eyes. “That’s it! I’m done!” She marched out of the room. I watched her leave, frowning.

“That was so b-b-bad! So s-s-s-stupid!” Willen snorted.

“It was great!” Alice gasped. “See? Laughing is healthy! This is why your face hasn’t wrinkled up like hers.”

I couldn’t help but smile at that. Alice...was a pretty tough gal.

Willen snorted, but he still had a smile on his face. The door opened again. This time a man with goggles and a...bag over his head stepped in. “Alice, Willen, Polly, there’s a phone call for you,” he said matter of factly. Alice pointed to herself with a raised eyebrow. I tilted my head in curiosity.  

“All of us? Whatever for?” Willen asked.

The thin man shrugged. “Says it’s from the Sanctuary.” The Sanctuary? I thought a moment. But Polly had said she and Willen were fallen. I didn’t know that much about angels, but didn’t they avoid contact with fallen angels?

Both of them straightened up with equal looks of surprise. The man looked at him with annoyance. “C’mon. We don’t have all night!” I tensed to follow.

The man found Polly quickly and led them into another backroom that was down another flight of stairs. A basement of some kind. The room was full of machinery and parts. Some looked completed, while others destroyed or half finished. It reminded me, just a little, of Goofy’s hills of random parts.

“There. Go on.” The man waved a pen at the back of the room. There was a tall device that looked like something between a phone and a record player. The speaker was pointed out and the mouthpiece was an odd twisted tube under it. The angels looked to the man, and he waved at them impatiently. It was interesting. Maybe I’ll try and draw it later.

“Hello?” Alice asked.

“Is this Alice, Willen, and Polly? The angels working for the demon?” a pretty female voice crackled through the speaker. The angels winced. My eyes widened. This was pretty different than a regular phone.

“Yes, that’s right,” Willen said.

“Is this really the Sanctuary? What reason could you possibly have to call us?” Polly sounded amazed.

“Official business. Do any of you know of a certain map?” the voice asked.

“Map?” Willen raised a brow. I blinked. My mind started to move. She didn't mean...that map?

“Yes, a map. It’s disappeared from the Sanctuary vaults. It was strong magic. Have any of you heard anything?” the voice commanded. Alice paled and lifted a hand to her lips. My stomach dropped. It was the map that Bendy and Boris had then! She’d given it to them without asking?

“No,” Polly scoffed. “What’s so important about it?”

“It could lead to trouble in the wrong hands,” the voice said. “None of you know anything about it? This is important!” I leaned against the wall. Well, this could go very bad for Alice, potentially. My mind started to work again. If they knew that it was very important, didn’t that mean they knew something about Ink Illness? Thinking about it, they had it locked in the Sanctuary. Did that mean there might be something else in their Sanctuary that could tell the world more about Ink Illness?

Willen and Alice shared a look. “H-how important exactly?”

“This could bring us to war once more,” the voice said gravely. I flinched, blinking. Everyone fell silent. All the angels looked shocked. What? How could a map on Ink Illness bring war?

Alice was shaking. “W-Wa--”

“War!” Polly barked. “But the last war was with the demons and that swept entire races away! What can this map do or lead to that could start something like that!” That was the first time Polly said something I appreciated...or agreed with. I wanted to know too.

“That is need to know information only. Do you have anything to report?” the voice said coldly. I put a hand to my forehead. Applesauce. That would have been too easy, wouldn’t have it?

She scoffed. “A hundred and thirty years, and this is the first I hear from above?” She sounded extremely bitter. “No, I know nothing of a map.”

Willen shook his head. “No, I have not heard of the map.”

Alice swallowed. “No.” She blinked, looking at her hands in surprise. I almost wanted to pat her on the back because at that moment, she look a bit miserable. I wondered at her words. Alice, out of anyone I knew, wasn’t the type to lie.  

“Then.” The voice sighed. “As angels, regardless of your conditions, it is your duty to report if any word of the map comes to you.” I pressed my lips together. Which meant the boys needed to keep the map even more carefully hidden than ever. To think at one point I’d been running around with it. The more I listened to this conversation, the more curious I become.

“Is there any way to recognize it?” Willen asked.

“Only those with an angel’s blessing or an angel themselves can see it for what it really is,” the voice responded. My eyes shot up. That! So _that_ was the reason no one else could see it. That had always been so frustrating! Well. I folded my arms again. At least now I knew why. “Report as soon as you hear anything.” The phone call ended and all three of them slouched.

“Stars above!” Willen muttered.

“Willen, watch your language!” Polly scolded with a scowl.

“A war! You’re worried about my language when there might be another _war!”_ Willen threw his arms up.

A war with who? The question left a bad taste in my mouth. More worry. Definitely not good.

Polly scoffed. “Might, is the key word there. It won’t happen.” Polly shook her head.

“Something I should take to the boss?” the thin man asked. The angels all straightened like he had shocked them. I’ll be honest, he shocked me too. I'd forgotten he was there.

“Depends, you wanna tell him about a map that leads to who-knows-what?” Alice said quickly.

The man’s eyes narrowed. “Who knows? He might like an exciting war.” The angels paled. The man chuckled. “I’m kidding...Mostly. We have our own work to do.” I let out a breath. Good, fast response, Alice.

“Now then, Alice, you’re still on leave from yesterday, so it seems we’re done for tonight. Return to your casino duties until tomorrow.” He tapped a clipboard and started to walk away. On leave, huh? I almost facepalmed myself before realizing that would make a noise. It was almost like the world was conspiring to keep me from finding out what was happening here. Although, I was glad I had been present for this. I was also glad that at least for tonight, whatever it was, Alice wouldn’t have to go through it again.

“Yes Mr. Flug,” Alice said with a pout.

“Doctor!” he shouted with a finger in the air but not bothering to look back. Alice snickered.

“Is this really a time for your childishness?” Polly demanded.

“You told Willen to not worry about it, and you’re telling me to worry about it? Make up your mind, Polly!” Alice said. It was honestly a good argument. Polly glared at her.

“I better not find out this was all your fault. Though, I honestly wouldn’t be surprised! You, from an Archangel family, acting the way you do!” Polly shook her head and started walking. The new word popped in my mind like a magical color. Archangel? What was an Archangel?

“Oh please, don’t tell me you’re going to start a ‘back-in-my-day' speech,” Alice moaned. Polly opened her mouth and then snapped it shut. She ‘hmphed’ out the door, her nose in the air.

“You really don’t know, Alice?” Willen asked.

“No! Why would I?” Alice said with a shake of her head. Her voice strained a _hint_.

“Because out of the three of us, you’re the one with the bag of miracles,” Willen said and headed for the doorway. I frowned. Why would miracles make her more likely to know? Those shiny things that granted wishes and...Oh. I thought about Boris’ description of how he’d gotten the map. Oh. That’s how she’d taken the map from the Sanctuary. A miracle. Whoa. Alice bit her lip. She looked back at the strange phone-recorder.

“Please, don’t let this be a mistake,” she whispered and followed the other two out, wringing her hands. Moving to walk behind her, I echoed her wish.

After that, I tried following Polly and Willen for a while, but nothing unusual happened and soon it got pretty late. I got pretty tired. So, slowly, oh so slowly, I made my way home. Now I’m going to go collapse. Good night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween! This ghost is out with her boo but she hopes you all are having a spooky night and enjoyed the chapter! Your comments have all been amazing! owo/


	64. October 29, Saturday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally see what's been happening to Alice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I would have posted this last week...but I went and saw Tap!!!!  
> I took the weekend and went to visit. It was great.  
> Unfortunately, because of this, I was totally distracted and didn't edit a thing.  
> Don't worry, though. This week's main story chapter and Holly's wanderings along with it are going to be...interesting.  
> Hehehe.  
> Anyways, enjoy.

After getting up this morning, I went to Xedo's and _stared_ at that box. For hours. Xedo came in every once in a while to get some papers and give me an odd look, but other than that, everything was quiet. Everything was normal.

The box did not move.

Eventually, I started to die of boredom, so I took a glass of water and started doing the same experiments I had done on the ink from Wakko.

Curious, I started with the runes that sped up time. The water eventually disappeared. Evaporation. Not much that was unexpected there. A moment later it started to grow a thin green film. Once again, nothing strange. It wasn’t like it had eaten a hole in the floor. I sighed, bringing out a bottle of ink I had with me. Maybe it would be better to test something more similar. Like this.

I pulled out my writing ink and put a drop on a fresh piece of paper, trying the same rune. The ink dried, the paper yellowed. The center of it did start to fall apart. Eventually.

So regular ink was acidic. But the ink illness ink was acidic to a whole other level. I had been curious, so when I had done that first test, I had continued to activate the time rune again and again until I’d had a hole about two feet wide and four inches deep. I’d planned on keeping it going until the ink stopped eating at the ground, but at that point I could feel my magic growing thin, so I’d stopped to do different experiments.

I tapped my lip and put a wad of papers underneath the normal ink, activating the rune again.  It faded away but did leave a small hole in the middle of the paper. I activated it one more time to be sure, but it didn’t really do anything at that point. For the other ink I’d done it at least fifteen times. So the strength of the ink illness ink was at least five or six times the strength of regular ink. At least. I hadn’t been able to find an end. I tapped my forehead. Somehow, I needed to find an end to it. I needed more of that ink. I sighed. My options weren’t very appealing. Watch Wakko? Granny? How often did they get attacks? I’d heard Bendy got them often. I cringed. That wasn’t a positive.

Even so, maybe I could ask Boris to collect some the next time Bendy had an attack. I ran a hand through my hair. Even thinking about asking that made me feel like dirt. The boy was a kid, and Bendy was in pain. Still. This information could help them potentially.

Next, I tried Chalice on the regular ink. Nothing happened.

Ha! Ha!

Nothing happened!

I’m sorry, because this experiment proves that there is something inherently malicious in the ink illness ink that can be cleansed. I only wish I knew more about Chalice itself. The only person I can think who might know more about it would maybe be Felix the Cat. Wilson Wiseton would have...but well, there’s not really much to be said about that. At this point, I put a mark on my mental list to go to Sheba’s bookstore and ask about him. I’ll admit, that sent a spark of excitement through me. I wasn’t being weird. I was just doing my research.

Next, I tried ‘Need’ on the regular ink. As I said before, usually ‘Need’ gives you an echo of what a thing or person needs. I was curious about this test in particular because of the strange permanent reaction I’d gotten from the other ink before. This one, however, stayed within the normal bounds of the runes used. It didn’t react. At all.

Because apparently, regular ink doesn’t _need_ anything, unlike the magical, ground eating, toon killing, terror instilling, applesauce flinging, dumb Dora Ink Illness ink!!

I'm not frustrated. 

Going through the memory in my head, I tried the combination of the ‘Protection’ and ‘Solid’ runes that had turned the Ink Illness ink into a small black crystal.

The ink solidified. But curiously, did not crystallize. This might give us some idea as to what the difference is between regular ink and this magical ink. What could cause it to crystallize rather than turn solid?

I went through the list of different experiments, but each thing reacted as one would expect. The ‘Joy’ rune didn’t do anything. The anti-curse runes didn’t do anything. The sun rune only dried the ink onto the paper.

Anything special that the other ink had done was not repeated in the regular ink. Heavens, I need to find a better name for the Ink Illness ink. Sickness ink? Evil ink? Foul dirt eating ink? No, that one’s even longer. I guess ‘testing’ ink will have to do for now.

I wiled half the day away, sitting in that room, performing the tests, glancing occasionally at the spooky box. Nothing ever happened to with it, but I was determined to watch as long as possible.

In the end, Wiston came into the office with the deer hawk. It was sitting on his shoulder and trying to mess with his ears. Wiston ignored it. That made me smile. They were getting along just a bit better apparently. Snowball and Fireball…I just realized that their names are opposites. Haha. Goodness. Anyhow, Snowball and Fireball had a touching reunion and for a couple of minutes, the small bird flew around the room with the dandehog between its shoulder blades.

Xedo also came in for a while, and I talked to him about the results of my tests. I even showed him the crystal I had made from the testing ink. I’d forgotten to give it to Oddswell. By the time I decided to leave, it was late afternoon.

I dropped by Sheba’s place, but found out the Felix had gone out on a trip. To my surprise, I found out that he’d actually left with Bendy and Boris. That made me excited and a little bit curious. Felix was helping them find the part? It gave me another measure of peace that someone so talented and experienced was with them.

After that, I headed out toward the edge of the city. I was determined to find out what was happening to Alice tonight. I had failed so many times so far, but I refused to give up. I arrived at the casino as the horizon started to darken, a bit earlier than I usually did.

Then, I waited at Alice’s door.

This time it was about half an hour before she exited her room. She was dressed in the same uniform she’d had on the previous nights, and it seemed like she’d gotten energy back because she was looking better than she had in days. (Well, in the days I’d seen her.) But her eyes seemed haunted now. I thought about the call yesterday. That was definitely something I could see her feeling guilty over.

She made her way to the back of the building, passing the room she had gone into the other day. She walked back down the stairs into that odd invention room and approached a drawing board on the wall. That surprised me a bit. What was she going to do with that? She reached under the lip of the board and seemed to touch something. The board moved up and the wall down into a hidden hall.

That...made my jaw drop.

The hallway was smooth and featureless. Alice stepped through it without a glance. She walked to the end of the hall, her heels clicking as she went. She reached the end, where there was another staircase. From there she walked down and continued down another hallway. This one had a number of doors leading away. There were also a few halls that branched off. A maze. These halls weren’t bare. There were drawings in ink and crayon, some childish and others not so much, toys, blueprints crumpled up, notebook papers, and sticky notes. They were spread all across the walls and sometimes on the floor. 

It was like a tornado of ideas pasted across every available inch of the wallspace. I would have stopped to take a closer look at the notes and blueprints, but I was afraid of losing Alice while I looked.

She made a few turns here and there. Some of the halls looked different. There were a few that had doors open. One looked like a messy kitchen, one was a study covered in television screens. Once again, I had the strong impulse to stop and see what was on the screens, but I didn’t. I simply promised myself that if I had a chance later, I would do look.

After that, there was an empty room that had two desks and a shelf of school books. It looked like a classroom. It wa fairly odd to be under a casino, but so was the rest of it. There was a hall that was lined with rich carpet. Alice's pace seemed to quicken as she walked past. The door at the end of it was extravagant made of rich wood and riddled with fine carvings. But there was some off feeling about the feel of that hall. Alice must have felt it too, because she wrapped her hands around her arms and shivered. After a few more turns the doodles and toys grew scarce and finally disappeared completely. Only scrap paper and blueprints remained. Then, finally, Alice stopped at a heavy metal door.

This basement gave off such strange feelings. It wasn’t just the cold aura that had come from the rich hallway, it was the fact that there was a schoolroom back here, and why were there such childish drawings covering the walls? This place didn’t look like it was connected to a casino. It felt...strangely like a home? But not a home as in a safe place. A home as in something lived here. And whatever lived here, it sent invisible spider feet up my spine. I thought about Black Hat. Were these his living quarters? If it was, why would Alice come down here?

She took a deep breath and straightened her spine before knocking on the door. When the door opened, her breathing went up. She stepped in with her hands behind her back.

“Alice, just on time...for once,” the thin man from the other night said flatly.

“Oh come on, Dr. Flug! I had to fix my face,” Alice said. I hovered at the edge of the door, ready to slip in quickly as I listened.

Dr. Flug gave her an annoyed look. “Why? No one is going to see it tonight!”

“My clock face.” Alice winked. The man rolled his goggled eyes. I grinned. I loved this girl.  

“Just get in position, Alice. We don’t have all night.” Dr. Flug waved her away and tucked his clipboard under his arm. He turned and walked further into...Was it a lab? I slid in sideways, my nose just barely catching the edge as the door clicked and slid closed.

Once inside, I moved away from the door and took a good look around the room. It was a large open space. Two floors tall. There was a spiral staircase that led to a loft-like area. There were machines, desks, plans, boards covered in formulas, beakers of chemicals. There were even a few pods of liquids containing floating plants.

Yep, this looked like a lab if I’d ever seen one.

That did not give me any feelings of encouragement and comfort. The crazy bag man didn’t either. Keeping an eye on Alice, I took a closer look at the machines and chemicals. Some looked like weapons, others seemed to be hospital equipment.

Alice walked to the far side of the room. Dr. Flug pushed a few buttons on a control panel. Two narrow, pillar-like structures rose from the ground. They stopped about waist height. There was a grip on the top of either pillar. Alice stepped up to them and grabbed both hand grips. Dr. Flug walked up to her and clicked two metal cuffs on her wrists. There were tubes that ran from the cuffs to the pillars. Alice sighed as Dr. Flug finished.

My unease was growing. Honestly, at this point, my anger is growing. What required him to  _snap_ her in place?

I moved closer, looking at the cuffs on her wrists and the tubes attached to them. My stomach dropped.   

“Think you can pass your highest score?” Dr. Flug asked.

Alice frowned at him. “If Mr. Hat would give me my halo, we’d have been done days ago.”

Dr. Flug stiffened. “Mr. Hat has his reasons.”

“Oh really? Because if he had given any of us our halos back, he wouldn’t need to use all three!” Alice huffed. “An explanation would be nice.”

Dr. Flug lifted either his chin or his nose, it was hard to say. Either way, the bag on his head tilted back. “You can talk to him about that,” Dr. Flug said and stepped away. He walked to a wall and touched it. There was a flash of bright light, and suddenly, there was an opening in the wall. Inside were shelves lined with odd things: a horn or giant tooth (I wasn't sure which.), a decorative jewel shaped like an egg, a sword, a slab of stone with a carving on it. Dr. Flug reached in and pulled out what seemed to be a glowing crystal orb. The wall reappeared, concealing the rest of the items. The orb was about twice the size of his fist. He held it up to look at it. Then, he walked to the control panel and hit a few more buttons. The wall behind Alice opened up to a mess of wires, tubes, and metal. They twisted around an empty point in the middle of it all.

Dr. Flug casually approached it and slipped the orb into the center slot. It clicked into place without any problem. Dr. Flug headed to the stairs and climbed up. Alice tapped a little beat on the grips she was holding, a look of boredom on her face.

That sort of reassured me. Was this the moment I was supposed to kick myself for being paranoid and promise myself never to follow another person under ridiculous pretenses again?

A speaker system turned on, and Dr. Flug’s voice filled the room. “Okay Alice, we’ll do half and see how you feel after.”

“Alright!” Alice called up. The sound of machinery whirled to life. The orb’s glow brightened. A loud hum sounded. Then, it really built up. Alice bit her lip. There was a little ‘ding’ that seemed out of place. Alice hunched her shoulders and winced. I frowned as the cuffs lit up. Then _Alice_ did. Then the tubes. I was able to watch the flow of the line as it lit from Alice's body down to the pillars and into the floor. Then, the light appeared in the tubes and wires around the orb, before going into it. The orb doubled in brightness. It was hard to look at directly.

I shielded my eyes with a hand and tried only to look at the edges. What was the brightness?

A few minutes passed by like this. The room grew warm, but not uncomfortably so. The scent of spring rain filled the air, like we had been dropped in the middle of a forest morning with everything blooming and rain giving it all that fresh, damp smell.

“How are you holding up?” Dr. Flug asked over the speakers.

“Oh, I’m great!” Alice’s voice sounded a little strained, like she was jogging. I was jerked out of the light, happy feeling I'd been floating in. “I could do this all night. Nothing like it!”

“Your sarcasm is noted,” Dr. Flug said. I glared at him. I’d give him some sarcasm, all right.

I wasn’t really sure what was going on...But were they taking some sort of angel power from Alice? Hadn’t Alice said that a halo stored power from their magic? Was this something similar to that? But it seemed they had three of these angels doing this every night? Why would they need that much energy?

I lost track of how long things stayed like this. Soon, Alice looked pale and began to sweat. I turned toward Flug, expecting him to stop, but it just kept on going. Alice continued to deteriorate.

I looked back and forth between them. This...this was bad. I should do something. I took a step toward Alice. She was panting audibly now. This needed to stop. I was slowly inching toward the controls, trying to convince myself to do something when Dr. Flug spoke.

Dr. Flug tapped his microphone. “Uh...did you forget to say ‘quit’? Or did ya just pass out on me?”

“I’m fine!” Alice panted.

Dr. Flug rolled his eyes. He flipped a switch, and the machine shut down. I let out a long, panicked sigh of relief, feeling grateful to the man. The light died except for the orb. Alice fell to her knees. Dr. Flug tsked. He walked down the stairs with his hands behind his back. Alice panted, sweat dripped down her face. This time I did move to her, but then stopped a foot away. She tried to rise, but didn’t have the energy.

That made me clench my teeth.

Dr. Flug looked at her with disdain. “I refuse to pity you, Alice. You’re the idiot that never says stop!”

I would agree with him if I weren’t half considering grabbing his lapels and shaking him. It was all I could do not to start lecturing her while I stood there, trying not to give myself away.

Alice smirked. “Wh-what c-can I say? I’m a-a glutton f-for pun-punishment.”

Dr. Flug narrowed his eyes into a glare. “Well, it’s you and _me_ that have to face Mr. Hat if you get sick again, moron. So knock it off!”

“I-I can handle it,” Alice huffed. No you can’t. I glared at her.  

“No, you can’t!” Dr. Flug started to unstrap her. She sat down and rubbed her wrists.

“The more I do, the sooner we can all be done here,” Alice said. Dr. Flug went to a table and poured a few chemicals into a beaker. He swirled it around the glass before offering it to her. That made me raise my brows in concern. She took it and drank quickly. She sighed when she was done and some of the paleness faded.  

“That is for emergencies, not for every session. It relieves your symptoms. It doesn’t restore your magic.” Dr. Flug shook a finger at her as he took the empty glass back and set it on a table.

Waiting until their backs were both turned, I pocketed the cup, which still had a little bit of liquid at the bottom. I knew it probably wasn’t all that important, but I wanted to know exactly what types of symptoms it was made for. And I wanted to know exactly what was going on here. Maybe that would confirm or deny any theories I had about the glowing light.

“Thank you, doc. I’m right as rain now.” Alice grinned.

Dr. Flug frowned. “My lab smells like a wet garden.” I glanced at Alice. And that had something to do with her?

“Your welcome.” Apparently yes? The smell of her magic? That was an odd thought.

“It’s distracting,” Dr. Flug said.

“What? You like Polly’s magic better?” Alice pouted.

“It doesn’t leave behind a smell,” Dr. Flug said.

“It would if it were stronger!” Alice pulled herself up on shaky legs. Dr. Flug pinched the bridge of his nose...through his bag.

“Whatever, just go eat something and rest. You won’t be able to do any other work tonight like that.” Dr. Flug pointed to the door.

Alice saluted. “Aye-aye captain.” Dr. Flug scoffed. Alice made her way back to the door and out into the halls.

I stayed.

I’d memorized the way back, and there were still some things I wanted to look into before I left.

Keeping an eye on Flug, I walked up to the glowing egg and took a closer look at it.  It just looked like a simple crystal ball. Though, it was glowing softly now. A swirl of something that looked like clouds filled the center of it. Did it store magic or do something else? I remembered then that Snowball was in my pocket. She’d be able to sense magic right? Turning a little away from Flug, I put my hand in my pocket.

Huh?

She felt...limp. Quickly, I pulled the animal out. It was worse than I’d ever seen. Not only was she more than twice her normal size, her eyes were two giant swirls and...the dandelion tufts...They had all fallen off, leaving her bare, covered in shedded white and sweat. As I brought her out, she let out a little wail when she got closer to the orb.

Twin spears of fear went through me. I turned to look behind me. Had Flug heard that? At the same time, I slipped the incapacitated animal back into my pocket, realizing as I did that she was _hot_. She was feverish with the amount of magic running through the air.

Flug didn’t look up, and I couldn’t help but take another look around the room, eyes wide. There was enough energy here to do...almost anything. I imagined it would be energy like this or something close to it that had been used to make those machine items.  

I glanced at Flug. Had he had gloves on when he’d touched the orb? Not that I wanted to touch it at this point, I wasn’t sure what that much energy undirected and compacted in a small area would do on contact. Flug was dressed in a white lab coat, his paper bag, goggles, gloves, boots, and protective pants. He walked back to the orb and pulled it off the wall. I just barely managed to move back so that he didn’t walk into me.

So he did have protective gear. A lot of it. Best not to touch the glowing egg then. He placed it in a device on a table. Numbers flashed on a screen. He wrote them down. “She’s an idiot, but she is a powerful idiot,” Dr. Flug muttered. A little bit like when I'd been around a certain beaked angel, I felt the urge to smack the good doctor. Alice was _not_ an idiot, and if any of these dumb doras around here figured out that, I’d buy them a chocolate parfait at Pete’s.

I looked closer at the other machines, but none of them seemed related to what had been happening to Alice. The weapons seemed to be for other things. The cases of liquid only seemed to hold some sort of vine.

In the end, my own lack of knowledge defeated me. I didn’t understand the use of such a technical, scientific lab. I sort of wished Oddswell was with me. (Just a little.)

Because of that, I slipped out of the room quietly and started to walk down the papered hallway, this time taking moments to look at anything interesting on the walls.

At first, I looked at the note pages and blueprints with numbers. They were about as understandable as what I’d seen in that lab. I wandered around for a while, looking at pictures as I passed rooms. Most were of Mr. Hat, Dr. Flug, a big bear like thing, bunnies, cats, flowers, lizards, and an odd woman. I was careful to continue the way I’d come until I reached the small classroom we’d passed. I looked inside.

The desks were child size. That surprised me. Did Dr. Flug or Black Hat have kids? I started to look through a little bookshelf to the right when I got a pang of conscience. This had nothing to do with Alice. So, obviously, it was none of my business, despite my curiosity. I started to retreat out the door when I noticed one last doodle to the side of the door.

...A handle on the side of a head. They were drawn running through a field pointing at a butterfly, arrows going from their fingers to the butterfly in sloppy lines.

My stomach dropped and the childish drawing suddenly becomes a bit more ominous. People...with cups for heads.

The Cup assassins?!?

But this...this was a child’s picture of children. Was this where the assassins lived? My skin crawled, and I looked around. There was a bookshelf with school books that went from elementary to middle school. Was this where they’d been _raised?_ I was suddenly a lot more interested in the classroom.  

Then, my natural instinct took hold. I looked back at the picture, studying it again. Little lines going to the butterfly? What did that mean? I scratched my head.

I took one more look at the classroom, but the books there were only what you would typically find in a school: math, English, history and so on. Even so, I pulled out a book at random and opened it, flipping through a few pages. A couple had doodles on them. One was of Dr. Flug being held over the open mouth of a giant cat. One was Black Hat’s face on a thorny daisy. Things were written like ‘bag head’ and ‘fire breath’ and ‘big mean schmuck’ in the corners.

If it was the assassins, obviously they didn’t think about either Black Hat or Dr. Flug with very much love. I flipped through a few more books, finding similar comics and comments. Eventually, I put them all away and moved through the hall again. I should mention this to the others. The more we know about the people coming after Bendy and Boris, the better.

Although I have to admit, some of their comics had made me laugh a little.

There wasn’t very much else other than the ominous hall that I was _not_ willing to search. I was fairly certain that Black Hat lived there, and if it wasn’t him, I didn’t think it was worth the risk to find out!

After that, the only place that I felt was worth looking into was the room with all the monitors. Cautious that someone might be there, I peeked inside the door carefully. There was. It was a girl around my age. She was slouched and watching the televisions while slurping a huge soda pop through a straw. She had a skirt that was scandalously short and a messy, vest over a buttoned top. She had a hood that looked oddly like a lizard’s head and long crazy hair that was pulled back in a pony. She also wore fingerless gloves, and her boots were propped up on one of the televisions. They seemed to be security cameras of the casino and the halls of the underground living space.

She suddenly laughed. “He’s obviously cheating and so bad at it too! Oh man! That scum is going to get it when he leaves the room! Look at him sweat!” she cackled.

I glanced at the camera she was watching and true to what she’d said, I saw a man sweating nervously as he prepared to leave. I also noticed myself sticking my nose into the door of the room at the bottom of the stack of TVs. For half a second I had a enormous heart attack. Then, I realized that if she could see me through the cameras, I’d have been caught a long time ago.

I let out a relieved breath, backing out the doors. It was nice to confirm that the rune worked even through cameras, though.

With nothing else to keep me down there, I made my way back to the secret door Alice had taken to get inside here. That’s when I stood there and stared at it. How exactly did I open it from this side? I felt along the wall for a catch but found nothing. Taking a step back, I stared.

This could be a problem.

I looked at my bracelet. I’d kept the rune active for several hours already. I could wait here for someone else to open the door, but that would be a gamble because eventually, I would run out of energy. I swallowed and pressed my fingers in odd spots on the wall. Then, I noticed a scuff on the wall right next to the floor. I bumped it with my foot, and it sunk in, revealing the doorway.

I let out a long breath of relief. I did not want to test my limits tonight, especially after all I’d seen. I needed to talk to the others, see if maybe Oddwell knew what the glowing egg was, see if he had any idea what it was I’d seen.

My night after that was pretty straightforward because when I exited from the casino, it was about four in the morning. Today hasn't been a bit less hectic, and I am still exhausted. But that’s for me to write about tonight, so I will leave off here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Tap here! It’s so much fun leading things along for Holly. She is trying so hard! XD We have been writing so much! I love Holly! I am so excited for her to be back in the main story! I hope you liked this chapter. Look forward to what’s coming!


	65. October 30, Sunday (Part One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...many things...happen...this day...  
> I can't wait. XD
> 
> This weekend has been interesting for me. I spent the day with my mom, and she helped my find a nice coffee table for my apartment. -_- Now, I just need a couch. Then, I helped move some stuff my brother left behind. I ended up getting a nice glass stand and an old T.V....Which led me to see if the old SNES I used to play with my siblings still works...Hehehehehe. It does. I love old stuff. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you like this part.

Today, I woke up to the phone ringing. I had slept for about two hours, so when I made it to the handpiece I was still groggy with sleep. I picked it up.

“Hmmm. This is Holly May.” I yawned. “Can I help you?”

“Holly! Are you okay? Is there anything happening at your place?” a very tense voice demanded. Ringtail maybe?

That woke me up pretty much instantly. “No. Nothing has happened here. Has something happened?” I looked around quickly. _Was_ something going to happen?

“Holly, this is important.” A different voice. I assumed Featherworth. “Be careful. Do you see anyone unfamiliar? Anyone acting shady?”

“Um.” I took a breath. “Let me look.” I picked up the phone base and stretched the cord as far as it could go until I reached the edges of the curtain in the living room. Parting the curtain gently, I looked out onto the semi-lit street. The sun had just barely started to rise. It was probably around six. 

I scanned the street. It was pretty much empty this early. There was a little old wolf who was a neighbor downstairs that I recognized, already up and watering some of her plants. But other than that and maybe one or two passing pedestrians, the street was empty. “I don’t see anything unusual. What’s happened?” I repeated.

“There’ve been two arson attacks,” Featherworth explained grimly. My throat closed at her words. “Dr. Oddswell’s house and Xedo Tiptail’s apartment building. Luckily, Red Hood noticed it, and they were able to stop it before it could cause any real damage. The same can’t be said for Mr. Tiptail’s apartment.”

Blinking, I told myself to get a grip. “What about Xedo and Wiston? Are they alright?”

“Xedo wasn’t there. We haven’t heard about Wiston yet. We decided to check with everyone first in case they aren’t done yet. So far, it seems to only be those two,” Featherworth explained in an even tone. That hardly comforted me. Of course, Wiston would have been in the apartment! He was always there. I bit my lip, a few tears forming on the edges of my eyes as I tried to get my breathing under control. I wasn’t ready for any sort of cosmic irony where Wiston died in a fire.

“Do you know where he is? Is there anything I can do? Can I come over and help?”

“Best to leave that to the professionals. You’ll only get in the way. If you want to go somewhere, I would suggest Oddswell’s,” Featherworth said. “We’ll try to drop by later today. We’ll be sure to bring news.”

“Okay,” I choked out. “Let us know the moment you hear about Wiston.” A moment later a thought struck me. Fireball had been following Wiston like...a hawk.

“Yes, ma’am. You be safe Holly,” Featherworth said.

“Wait,” I said in a hurry before she could hang up. “Wiston has had a bird following him lately, an odd one with a deer as a head. I don’t know, but if you find it, you might find Wiston too.”

“...A...deer head?” She sounded flabbergasted.

“Long story. It’s like Snowball.”

“Alright, Holly. Thank you for the information. Take care.”

“Thanks, Featherworth. You two keep vigilant too.” They hung up, and I leaned against the wall, a hand covering my eyes. They hurt from lack of sleep, but I still went into my closet and got dressed. I grabbed a fruit and ran out the door, even more paranoid than usual as I made my way to the bus stop. Every shadow seemed to jump out, and unconsciously, I kept on checking the sky for signs of smoke. I got at Granny’s a little before half past five.

The house was already a bustle of activity. There were a few groups standing in the lawn: a cluster of dwarves, a skinny lion that didn’t look happy to be there, and...were those gargoyles? I made my way inside to see Red shaking a finger at a snake that was scowling at her.

“It’ssssssss not my fault that I ran out. They’re sssssssuppossssed to be ussssed during an attack,” the snake hissed.

“Yes. _Sparingly,_ Mr. Hiss. You should have only taken one pill. This was supposed to last you the month,” Red said pointedly. “Not two weeks.”

The snake scoffed. “I’m willing to pay for them. Just give me a refill, and I’ll be on my way. We have meetingssss to go to today.”

That made my brow twitch. It was too early for this. Wiston might be...injured, and we had so little of the pain pills left, and this snake was acting like the place was a pharmacy.

“I can’t bump you up on the refill list just because you have money, Mr. Hiss. You’ll have to wait like everyone else.” Red shook her head. She placed her hands on her hips like she planned to stand her ground.

“That’s ridiculousssssssssssss! I want to sssssssssee the doctor! You can’t jussssssst turn me away like thisssssssss! I’m a patient!” the snake snapped, his hissing getting worse with his temper.

“I’m sorry, but the doctor is with another patient,” Red stated. I considered interrupting. This snake needed a good lecture.

“He’ll ssssssssssee me!” the snake coiled up.

Red lifted her chin and opened her mouth. The doctor came down the stairs, his shirt and coat stained with ink. “What’s this noise?”

“Dr. Oddswell, how is the blue fairy?” Red turned to face the lizard. That made my brows go up. So even a powerful magical being like her...

“She’s stable and resting now. What seems to be the problem?” Dr. Oddswell was cleaning his hands with a rag.

“Mr. Hiss wants a refill,” Red said smoothly.

The doctor hummed. “What did you tell him?”

“That he would have to wait like everyone else,” Red explained.

“There you go, Mr. Hiss,” Dr. Oddswell half turned to walk away.

“Wait a minute! You can't do that! I’m willing to pay you! I need a refill! I’m your patient! Issssssss thisssssss how you treat your patientssssssssssssssssss!” Mr. Hiss demanded.

The lizard turned back and straightened. “By all means! Why didn’t you say so sooner!”

That brought both the snake and assistant up short.

“Doctor?” Red blinked.

“Well! It’sssss about time,” Mr. Hiss said.

“When you were ready to donate your ink to my research, you should have told me sooner.” Dr. Oddswell adjusted his glasses.

“I--What?”

“Why, the ink from your attacks. We need it to create the pain pills. There is still the time consuming process to actually _make_ them, but a good sample goes a long way! A willing subject works so much better.” The doctor snapped his fingers. Red raised an eyebrow but walked away.

“I didn’t agree to thisssssss,” the snake said nervously.

I smothered a smile. I’d forgotten about this. About how much I liked this side of the doctor. The lizard wouldn’t take selfish rudeness. It was one reason I’d stuck with his class when other had been dropping like flies.

“But of course you did!” The lizard smirked. “If you want more, you're willing to give more. Now, come upstairs. I’ll induce a false attack.” The snake paled.

“A-A falsssssse...You can’t do that!” the snake hissed nervously.

That made my heart lift in curiosity. _Could_ Oddswell induce a false attack? I immediately started to think of ways I already knew that I could do that. Some of the rune tests I’d been doing could do that. But...that would be dangerous.

“Can’t I? If you’re willing, I can do anything,” Dr. Oddswell said. “Unless you’d rather wait, Mr. Hiss.”

“I-I can wait! I can wait! I'll be back on my appointment!” The snake quickly slithered away. As soon as was gone Oddswell chuckled.

I shook my head. “Doctor, you’re rather brilliant.”

“Miss May. Good of you to visit. Sorry you had to see that. I have a few...entitled subjects that think I would cut corners for them for some unknown reason.” The doctor rolled his large eyes.

I shook my head, scowling. “Do you really know how to induce a false attack?”

“Heavens no!” Dr. Oddswell scoffed. “I would have had proof of the attacks and illness long ago if I could! That, and there are some foolhardy toms that actually _would_ be willing to go through with it if it meant getting pain meds to the others.”

I could think of a few myself. “How are we doing on the pain meds, by the way?” I couldn’t help but ask, even though I wanted to ask about Wiston, but I doubted they’d know very much either at this point. “And I heard...there was nearly a fire this morning?”

Oddswell’s good humor was quickly erased. I really needed to stop asking questions. I was getting so tired of that happening. He looked at me with annoyance. I shrugged helplessly, surprised to find myself caring about inciting his ire. “The outdoor wall next to the kitchen is burned, but it’s mostly cosmetic. As for the medication...We are doing the best we can. Those in the further stages are taking priority, and others like Mr. Hiss, aren’t making it easier.”

“Have...you heard anything...about...Wiston yet?” I said, my voice getting quieter with each word.

“Not yet. But keep a stiff upper lip. Those foxes are reliable and stubborn. Neither of them would be taken out by something as simple as a house fire,” Dr. Oddswell said with absolute certainty. “Knowing him, he started throwing stuff in to see how big he could get it,” he muttered.

That made me snort. “He would. I could practically imagine him running through it, laughing in delight,” I said softly. It was more an ideal. A better image than thinking about what could be the truth.

“Still. It gave Red and some of the more permanent subjects a scare.” Oddswell shook his head.

That made me scowl. “Did anyone manage to see…” I trailed off. Did it really even matter? I’d seen the Sykes _and_ called the cops, and it had accomplished nothing. “We’ll just have to mount a better defense,” I said with a sigh.

“No, but it was arson. Gasoline and a match,” Oddswell said.

Red came back with an elderly looking stone gargoyle. The gargoyle was holding a bottle of pills. “You take it easy, LaVerne,” Red said.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll take it easy when that ol’ gopher is back up! We have a chess game later this week!” LaVerne said.

“I’ll let her know. You take care now,” Red said. The gargoyle waved as she hopped by before she reached the door and disappeared.

“Wow,” I mouthed. “Never seen a gargoyle before.” I smiled, sort of wishing Alice were here. She’d have the perfect pun ready. “She seems like a tough marble.” I turned back to Oddswell. “Is there anything I could do here, to help?”

“Help Ms. Hood with breakfast. I have one last subject to see before I can join you,” Oddswell said. I nodded, turning to the woman.

“The sneezing dwarf?” Red asked.

“Precisely.” Oddswell smiled.

“Oh stars, the cleaning that room will need after his attack. I don’t even want to think about it,” Red muttered.

“You may have to, Ms. Hood. I am considering him for residence,” Dr. Oddswell said.

“Please send him to the hospital. I don’t want to repaint the walls every other week.” Red sighed. Sounds like she may have to. Could I come up with some sort of barrier? Like a tarp when someone was painting? To make it easier for them? I started to ponder once more.

“Noted Ms. Hood.” Oddswell smiled. “Holly.” He nodded and headed back upstairs.

“Stars.” Red shook her head. “Well, c’mon. It’s eggs and biscuits today. Really simple.”

I nodded, following her. “You know, Miss Hood, I think you’re quite amazing,” I commented as we went into the kitchen. “I can’t believe how tough you are. I..admire that.”

“You’re sweet, Holly,” Red said. “I think you’re quite a gal yourself.”

“Thanks.” I smiled. We were just setting out the plates when the door opened.

“Holly? Red? Ryan?” It was Ringtail.

At this point my head whipped around like my head had been magnetized and Ringtail was north.

“Hello? Anyone home!” Ringtail called.

“Rachel, there could be sick sleeping here,” Featherworth scolded.

“Oops.”

“Over here,” I called out quickly.

Featherworth, Ringtail, and to my surprise, Xedo walked in. All of them were covered in soot. They looked tired.

Red and I rushed over. I went to the fox. “Xedo!” It struck me at this moment how much I cared. I had become very attached to this reporter and his brother, and seeing him here, safe, but with that expression on his face sent waves of both relief and worry crashing through my heart like a violent wave. “Are you hurt?” I looked him over. His clothes and fur were singed, but otherwise, he seemed okay. I clicked my tongue at the singes, trying to suppress the worry they induced. Where was Wiston? “Come, all of you. Sit down.” I quickly motioned them toward the table.

“Thank you,” Xedo said softly. The three seem to flounder into their seats and sink.

“We were trying to find any sign of him in the remains. The fire isn’t completely out yet, but there was no hint of him in the wreckage.” Ringtail sighed.

I didn’t want to hear that. I stared at Xedo. No-no-no-no-no.

“That’s good news Holly,” Xedo said softly. “It means he wasn’t in the place we were looking. For all we know, he’s goofing off at the park.”

I took a deep breath. He was right. I wasn’t thinking rationally. I needed to calm down. I took another breath. Now. “Yes. You’re right.”

He nodded.

“Did you see any sign of Fireball?” I asked him.

“No,” Xedo said. “No sign of it.”

I let another breath. That also could be a good sign. But where could they have gone? Another thought, one I don’t know how I missed, popped into my head. My eyes went wide. What about the…

I glanced at Xedo. “What about...the metal case?”

Xedo shook his head. “I couldn’t find anything from the office. It’s either all burned up or still in the fire.”

My stomach hit the floor. “I see…” I said quietly. This was bad. Xedo nodded like he knew what I was thinking.

Red glanced at us. “This might be a bigger problem. Does anyone know how long the boys were going to be away?”

Xedo and I slowly shook our heads. “Honestly, if they were going where I thought they were, they should have been back by now, at least a couple days ago.” I rubbed my eyes. I was probably wrong about my guess. After all, there could have been other places climbing equipment was needed.

“Woah, wait. How did this turn on the boys?” Ringtail asked.

“Do we need to start looking for them?” Featherworth asked with a knot in her feathered brow.

“No,” I said quickly. “Considering what they went to do...Who knows what could be keeping them.”

“Besides, I think they’re tired of police looking for them,” Xedo added. That almost made me laugh, but the fact that the doll was missing completely spoiled it.

“Do you have a place to stay?” I asked Xedo.

“Not yet,” the fox responded.

“Then, stay at my apartment. With Alice gone, there’s an extra room.” At least I could help in this small way.

“Thank you, Holly. That is very generous of you.” Xedo bobbed his head. It didn’t take long for others to join the table. Oddswell and even the dwarf, but he only intended to stay for the meal, then he would go with his friends. Red took up plates for Granny and the blue fairy. Two more came to the table. One introduced himself as B’rier Bear. The other didn’t need an introduction. It was the theater actress and singer, Snow White. She was here? I had no idea!

“Ms. White, it’s a pleasure. I didn’t know you were acquainted with Dr. Oddswell,” Xedo said. I remembered the last time I’d seen her outside Fairfax’s apartment.

Snow folded the napkin in her lap perfectly. Her flawless skin radiated beauty in the room. I thought Red was beautiful, but somehow this woman made her seem ordinary. “I’d rather keep it that way if you don’t mind, mister-editor-and-chief-of-the-Toon-Town-Times. My fiance is overseas right now, and I don’t want to scare him. He is the foolish kind of man that would drop everything and run here in hysterics. He can’t do anything either. I'd rather he learns this situation from me, I’ll worry about the public after that.” That both made me blink in surprise and then nod in admiration. This woman was very calm in the face of such a terrifying reality.

“I will respect your wishes, ma’am,” Xedo said to the beautiful woman.

Snow nodded. “And...I’m sorry about your home. I hope your brother is okay.”

Xedo smiled. “Thank you.”

Breakfast went by quickly after that. We did our best to lift each other’s spirits. The conversations stayed on light topics. We were cleaning up the dishes when the door opened again. “H-hello?” a teary voice called out. Red rushed to the front room. She got there before anyone else.

“Oh my--” she gasped. That made me jump from my seat. I moved to the front door to see what she’d seen. There stood a black form on the doorstep. He was covered head to foot in ash, soot and coal. He held a bird in his arms and tears were running down his face. Wiston. “Are you--”

“ _I-I’m sorry!_ ” he sobbed. Xedo came in behind me and rushed to his brother.

“Are you okay? Have you been burned anywhere?” Xedo stopped just before touched him.

I rushed back into the kitchen and grabbed a wet towel, coming back, I wiped at his face. The poor fox was trembling. “Wiston, are you okay?” I repeated Xedo’s words as I wiped.

“ _I’m sorry! I-I tri-tried to find it! I tri-tried! It-it was gone!”_ Wiston sobbed, his shoulders shaking.

“Sshhh, shh.” Red knelt next to him. “It’s okay sweetie. Calm breathes sweetie. It’s okay. Can you tell us if your hurt anywhere?” She spoke in a low, slow voice. Cool and calm.

Wiston took shaky breathes and did his best to follow her directions. “I-I’m fine. Fi-Fireball kept the flames from burning me.” I looked down, staring at the bird incredulously.

“What?” The bird looked weak, laying almost limp in Wiston’s arms. It tweaked its head a little, looking up and surveying everyone like we might be a potential threat. I shook my head. “Wiston,” I said in a soothing tone. “Can you tell us what happened from the beginning?”

 “Th-They broke in. I-I heard them. I-I-I,” he gulped, “I hid in the office. I kn-knew it was messy enough f-for them to miss me.” He hugged the bird closer to him. “The-They searched the place, broke things, stole things. Th-then, they were pouring gasoline everywhere.” Wiston’s breathing picked up. “I-I tried not to breathe. I-I wanted to escape, but they were right outside the room! I-I-I didn’t think I’d--I didn’t know how.” He broke down into tears again. It took him some time to get ahold of himself.

Red and Xedo led him to the kitchen. Red helped me work on cleaning him off and stripping most of his ruined clothes away. After that was done, I went to Granny and she helped me find him a new set.

While the others continued to care for him, I took Fireball and bathed her in the kitchen sink. She also was covered in soot, but just like Wiston, she miraculously had no burns. He said she had kept the fire from burning him? She glared at me while I worked. When I scratched behind one of her ears, she relaxed though. Eventually, I wrapped her in a towel and set her back onto Wiston’s lap once he was also clean and dry.

His arms immediately went back around her. She nuzzled his forearm comfortingly, giving a soft ‘ahhh.’

“The fire started, and they left. I got out of my hiding place and headed for the door. They had blocked it somehow. It was burning, and there was something over it. I couldn’t go that way. I headed to the living room, and Fireball was there. I thought about going out the window, but then I remembered the box. I remembered w-what Alice said, so I went back. The place was already burning up. The paper and gasoline--I slipped, but Fireball kept the fire from burning me somehow. I didn’t think about it. I just went.” Red offered him some water, and he drank greedily.

“I got to the hole, but it wasn’t there! I started looking around. The fire didn’t burn, so I dug and dug and dug but nothing...and then the floor gave, and we fell, but we landed okay. I think I lost track of time, I was just so focused on finding it. I-I couldn’t leave him! Everyone is counting on him! I knew it would burn up, so I had to find it, but I never did!” he sobbed again. “It just wasn’t there! I don’t know if they took it or if--if!”

“Shh, it’s okay Wiston.” Xedo rubbed his shoulder.

“What if he’s dead!” Wiston howled. “It’s all my fault! I couldn’t find it!”

“Then, you’ll have done all you could, Wiston. You did what you could.” I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a hug. “You risked your life. If anything happened, it’s not your fault.” I bit my lip. “But don’t give up hope.” The feeling rested uneasily in my stomach, but I repeated myself. “Don’t give up hope.” It was enough to make me want to rush out the doors and go looking for them myself. What I’d do for a Bendy and Boris map. I tapped down on the feeling though. There was literally nothing any of us could do to find out at this point.

A thought plinked into my head. But was there anything we could do to find the doll?

“Hold on a minute. Who could be dead? What is this about?” Ringtail asked. The room went quiet.

“Wasn’t Wiston the only one in the fire? What is this about a box?” Featherworth asked.

I swallowed, my eyes swiveling between Featherworth and Ringtail. Honestly, I didn’t understand why we hadn’t told them about the items yet, but I didn’t feel like I knew enough to make the judgement call on whether we should tell them. I glanced at Xedo and Oddswell. Oddswell put his hands behind his back. “Wiston indeed was the only one in the fire, Detective Featherworth, but his life wasn’t the only one in danger.”

“Doctor.” Red’s voice held warning. The lizard waved a hand.

“They have done enough to know the truth,” Oddswell said.

“Truth?” Ringtail narrowed her eyes.

“The boys. They’re on a quest to collect powerful magical items that, when used together, may create a cure for the Ink Illness,” Dr. Oddswell said simply.

Sneezy blinked. “G-g-g- _achoo!-_ golly!”

“What!” Snow White gasped.

“And,” I said, figuring if there was a downer to this, I might as well share it so Oddswell wouldn’t have to, “the one item we had just went missing.”

“It was a simple looking thing, but the magic on it was like nothing we’ve ever seen,” Xedo said. “A doll.”

“A...doll?” Ringtail asked. “And it’s supposed to cure Ink Illness?”

“A magical doll.”

“Yes, exactly. It attaches itself to the life force of a host. If something happens to the doll, that will be the thing that happens to the host,” Xedo said.

“And it was attached to Bendy!” Wiston exclaimed. The policewomen shared a shocked look.

“Oh dear,” Snow White whispered.

“And now we’re not even sure if Bendy’s alive.”  I frowned. “If we only had some idea who the people who were inside Xedo’s apartment were. I actually think I might...maybe have a rune that could help us find them, see if they stole the doll.”

“How?” Ringtail started to ask but then shook her head. “I’m not gonna pretend like I understand the stuff. If you can help us find the arsonists, I am all for it!”

“We appreciate the help.” Featherworth smiled.

“Did the arsonists leave anything behind?”

The raccoon frowned. “Evidence of gasoline and a match.” She seemed annoyed at the lack of evidence.

“A match.” It was a really long stretch, but maybe? I'd never even tried this rune before. And if I did, it would be the most complicated spell I'd ever tried. “There's a tracking rune I know...that I could try. I'm not sure how it would turn out, but I need something of theirs for the spell to hone in on.”

“Okay, that’s better than anything,” Ringtail said.

“So there’s a chance Bendy is okay?” Wiston asked.

“If we can find the arsonists and find the doll…” Or I could even try to do a tracking spell on Bendy if we had anything of his here. It wouldn't track a dead person right?

Snow knelt next to the fox and smiled a warm smile. “I’m sure he’ll be okay. It sounds like they’ll be able to find him or this doll. It’s okay.” She reached out and gently petted his ears. Wiston smiled hesitantly at her.

I blinked. Oh, I should have said something like that. That's what Wilson needed. I kicked myself. I should have been paying more attention to him and less on the technical side of things.

“She’s right,” Xedo added. “Holly is a very reliable person.”

I tried to smile reassuringly. “Bendy and Boris are tough. And I don't think they would've wanted to burn the doll. And there's that strange thing it does when the box moved by itself.” The words tumbled out of my mouth.

Both Xedo and Wiston’s ears perked up. “What did you just say?” Xedo asked.

“The box was always moving by itself?” I frowned.

Xedo suddenly stood. “That’s it!” he exclaimed. I jumped up too. Was he going somewhere?

Sneezy blinked. “What’s it?”

Xedo turned back to Wiston. “Brother, did they search the study thoroughly?”

“Um, I don’t know. I don’t think so. They didn’t find me,” Wiston said. “You think they didn’t find the box?”

“And that the box moved itself! That doll is centuries old at least. A simple house fire isn’t going to be the end of it,” Xedo said.

“But then where is it?” Ringtail asked.

Xedo shook his head. “We’ll have to wait for the boys to come back to find it again.”

Red shivered. “It moves by itself. That is some ghostly ghouls stuff there.”

I frowned. “But where would it go?”

“That is a good question,” Xedo said.

“I think I’m going to go back to bed. I can’t believe w-w-we- _achoo!_ Are talking about a moving doll. No. I think I am good for today. Thank you for the meal, Ms. Hood. I will see you again dr. Oddswell.” The dwarf nodded to them.

“Absolutely, but remember, this conversation didn’t happen.” Oddswell winked, his tongue flickered out. The dwarf nodded and went out.

I couldn't imagine what it would be like to hear something like that at random. I hardly believed it myself.

“Well!” Ringtail clapped her hands together. “We’ll be back with that match.” Featherworth nodded to everyone before the two turned to go.

Snow giggled. “My Sneezy hasn’t changed a bit. None of them have.”

Red rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it.” Snow giggled again.

“I’ll go visit with Mrs. Gopher. I’m sure she’ll appreciate the company.” Snow stood.

“Thank you, Ms. White, and remind her that she is on bed rest and should be _resting in bed,_ if you don’t mind,” Dr. Oddswell said. The actress smiled another gorgeous smile before disappearing up the stairs.

I watched her go. “I'm glad we thought of the possibility that the box could have moved itself.”

“Yes quite, though it brings a new set of problems to us,” Dr. Oddswell said grimly. “We can’t just have things like the pill ingredients and the parts hidden around like family treasures. We need a secure location for them!”

“What would you suggest doctor?” Xedo asked. Oddswell clicked his tongue in annoyance.

“Perhaps a place with special security,” I grumbled. Red snorted in agreement. She went off to the kitchen and came back with a cup of tea. She offered it to Wiston. He took it with a nod.

Now that things had quieted. More precisely, now that we had the potential of something _other_ than the doll burning to a crisp in the apartment, my mind caught up to me. _Alice_. I needed to talk to Oddswell about what I’d seen Alice doing.

Oddswell started to head back to his office, and I followed him. I looked back at Xedo. “When the detectives get back, would you mind telling me?” I asked him. The fox nodded.

I nodded a thanks and caught up with the doctor. “Professor, I have something to ask you,” I said quickly.

“Yes, Miss May?” Oddswell said.  

I clenched up a bit. Honestly, I still felt a little strange about the fact that I’d followed Alice, and I hadn’t found proof that they were abusing her...just that something strange was going on. “Could we speak in private?”

The professor tilted his head to signal me to enter his office.

When the door was shut, I took a breath and pressed my lips together. “I’m not sure how to start with this question.” I sat down in a chair, clicking my tongue. “You haven’t met her, but there’s someone else who helped Bendy and Boris. Her name is Alice.”

Oddswell took a seat behind his desk and pulled open a drawer. He pulled out a stack of files and a pen.

What was he doing? I eyed the pen. “And she disappeared shortly before Bendy and Boris’ trial, leaving a note for them.”

“A note?” He glanced at me before turning back to the files. He leafed through them and pulled one out. Opening it, he quickly wrote a few lines and closed it again. I tried to catch a label or anything on the file, but he moved too quickly for me to see anything.

I nodded. “Letting us know she needed to go back to her old job because of something important. I tracked her down at her job, the Black Hat casino outside of town.”

He hummed. He pulled out a second file from the stack, opened it and wrote. This time I caught sight of a label. _Snow White._ He closed it and put it back. He was updating their illness files?

“And things were strange from the start. She wasn’t anywhere she’d been before. She didn’t serve the bar. In fact, she didn’t seem to be there at all. After a few days, I found her though. Well--we--the Warners were searching for her with me.”

“Ah! That’s right. The Warner boy. Him after,” Oddswell muttered and pulled out a third and fourth file. I suppressed the urge to ask if Wakko had had another attack. I needed to ask about this.

“I...followed her to see what sort of work she really was doing. And what I saw was strange.” I took a piece of blank paper from a stack he had and started to sketch the lab from my memory. I wasn’t good, but I’d used my talent to do this enough times that I was decent at it.

He finished and put them back. He pulled out a fifth and sixth file and set them aside.

“She went to this place.” I tapped the egg that I’d drawn. “And...I think it was her magic? It was drawn into this thing. I’m asking you if you have any idea what was happening here. I understood that a lot of magic was being used here but everything else was too technical. There were no runes or anything related to the mythical. And I’m worried. I’m really worried about what they are doing to Alice.”

Oddswell glanced at the drawing. He hummed. His tongue flicked out for a millisecond. He tapped his snout with his pen. “This seems to me to be some high level of alchemy. Strictly on a chemical level though. The person that designed this lab was looking at it from a point of view similar to mine, a technical aspect meant for research, machinery and experimentation. No space for magic circles or the like. Whatever work he...or she is starting with magic, they are a novice at best.”

I tilted my head, eyes widening a little. “Alchemy?” That would explain why there was magic but so little recognizable magical technique. I tapped the egg. “Do you have any idea what this is?”

“Looks like a ball,” Oddswell said flatly. “A wobbly circle at best.” He smirked.

I smiled a little, trying to smother the disappointment I felt. At least I had a little bit better of an idea what was going on.

“I am joking girl.”

“Sorry.” I looked down. “It was a good joke. Normally I’d laugh, but I’m just a bit stiff right now with everything that’s happened.”

Oddswell nodded. “If this is the item that is storing the ‘magical energy,’ I can compare it to a battery.” I nodded. That had been my guess. “If that is what it is meant to be. Otherwise, it could be some form of converter.” He leaned over to look it over again. “Is she magical in nature? I don’t know much of magic. My talent and interests are in hard science, not the feelings and shiftiness of spells and magic. An old argument with Wilson, since he thought I would find a kinship with old cultures of magic.” Oddswell rolled his large eyes.

I thought about it for a moment. “I think that we need both as a world. That was the reason I took your class, actually. I wanted to understand it a little, even if it wasn’t what I was focusing on.”

“True, and each has their place in that world. Understanding is good. Reaching beyond one’s comfort level is the only way we grow.” Oddswell smiled. “That’s why he was my friend in the first place. So different, yet respectful and curious. We would talk, explain, ask questions, and dissolve into arguments at times.” He chuckled.

I listened intently, hanging on his words. I smiled finally. “How did you meet? Did you two work together?” The words slipped out even as I chidded myself for getting distracted.  

“Hardly.” Oddswell laughed. “I came to one of his lectures to disprove a theories  of his on ancient medicines. After he finished, I was expecting the old pomp that usually comes with scholars and our bad habit of always wanting to be right. Instead he said, “That’s interesting. I didn’t think of that. Would you mind having dinner with me this weekend and explaining more?” I thought he was going to stand me up. To my surprise, he was there, and he had a number of questions. We were both young back then, and you have to prove yourself time and again when you don’t have a reputation yet. I expected him to object, argue, or get angry at some point. I had completely destroyed his theory, after all. Instead, he was thankful that he could “Be corrected and was now free to find the truth.” I was baffled to say the least. As time went on, I learned he had one of the greatest minds in his field of interest and one of the most humble souls.”

He chuckled. “He checked my own ego a few times to my chagrin.”

I laughed. “I guess that’s what’s friends are for, then," I said, a little smirk on my face. "You helped him with his theory, and he helped you with your ego.” He snorted good naturedly.

“Yes, but the reason I brought it up is this. I don’t know much of magic, but what I do know is basic and important. If the girl isn’t magical in nature, then the thing they could be taking from her is her very life force. Her soul.” I opened my mouth to negate that, but then, what he said next made my blood go cold. “And even if she is magical, expending that much energy isn’t good. If pushing the body too hard damages the body, then pushing one’s magic too far damages the soul. And souls aren’t something easily cured. There can be lasting effects, like everything in this world,” Oddswell said. “At least that is what Wilson explained to me. We were talking about magic exhaustion and how ancients races tried to treat it when one went to far. Again, he had amazing theories but nothing he could prove at the time.”

I opened and closed my mouth slowly. How hadn’t I seen it before? The connection between body and soul. I’d even felt it myself. Using too much of my own magic had messed with my talent, resulting in me not remembering _anything_ from when I had used it.

“Holly? Are you okay. You’ve gone pale.” Oddswell studied me carefully.

I tried to breath in and closed my eyes, putting a hand over my face. Breathe Holly. Breathe. I needed to keep a clear head on my shoulders. “She is magical in nature.” I took another calming breath. “And she is pushing herself to her limits, to the point where she collapses.” I clenched my fists, real anger surging through me. “And she won’t _stop_ ! She won’t listen.” My voice squeaked a little with the stress of it. “I’ve tried to warn her, the doctor tried to warn her, the apple picking _Warners_ tried to warn her. But she’s determined to put her all into it so she can finish as quickly as possible. Whatever it is.” I waved a hand and then put them both in my lap, pinching my arm to clear my head since the breathing hadn’t worked. Why was I so emotional?

Oddswell studied me carefully. He grabbed two files he had looked at before and glanced down at them. “May I ask a question?” Oddswell said and opened the first one.

The pain worked and my breathing slowed. I nodded.

“What kind of person is this Alice?” Oddswell asked.

I pressed my lips together, angry again that I was caught between helping Alice and respecting her wishes. “I don’t know that I’m allowed to say. Does it matter?”

Oddswell raised a scaly brow at my answer. I could practically see him saving that information. I’d probably already said more than Alice would be happy with. Oddswell was too smart. Ugh. He pushed the top file toward me.

I blinked and opened the file, inspecting the papers inside. It was Wakko’s medical records. “In my time working with this disease and a number of other sicknesses, I discovered there is a pattern to most patients. And again, especially with ink illness.”

I frowned, looking at him again and reading the writing on the page. ‘Highly energetic, optimistic, a troublemaker with a quick wit and a good sense of humor. He acts as if the illness is a nuisance most of the time. There have only been two occasions where this has changed. Once, when his gift disappeared. The ability to ‘breakdown and see beyond walls.’ He showed great distress to be 'cut off’ and go ‘blind.’ The other time this changed was at a low point. He voiced worry for his siblings about what they’re going to do when he is gone. He has recovered from this time, but keep a careful eye on him. His optimism may be a facade.’ This hit my heart like an arrow.

“W-what? But Wakko’s...Wakko. He doesn’t get depressed.” I looked up as the confusion grew. “He worries what they’re going to do when he’s _gone?_ ”

“That is the way of this ailment. It works into the heart and mind. The pain and hopelessness that won't end has a strong effect. There are subjects that act like victims. And thus, they are treated as victims. They usually struggle recovering and find themselves always declining. Then, there are ones like Wakko and Mrs. Gopher and Snow White, who stay cheery either for themselves or for others. It is attitude that keeps a survivor here. Each of my subjects need to have their mental and emotional wellbeing monitored carefully. But, the optimist have a different risk to worry about. They can exhaust themselves and push too hard,” Oddswell explained.

I looked down nodding slowly. “But then, what’s this got to do with Alice?” I said, looking up again.

“The reason I ask about your friend is because I want to know if she is the kind of person that would risk her health just to get out of an uncomfortable situation or if there is another factor we haven’t considered. Why is this Alice so stubborn about leaving? To help the boys? No one can help them until they get back. To help me? With Snow White, Mrs. Gopher, and Ms. Hood here, I have all the help this house can handle. Plus, the hospitals are listening now. Soon, the pills will be in large production, so this won’t happen again. Thus, that leaves us with a few options left. You see what I mean, Miss May?” Professor Oddswell asked.

I nodded. Why _was_ Alice pushing herself so much. “She really hates the casino. And...something very important was stolen from her. She’s been trying to get it back for a while, and this is her chance to get it back, I suppose.” Although, I was still worried that someone who had been willing to steal an angel’s halo might lie about that.

“But is it worth risking her life for? If she slowed down a little, she would still get the stolen item and be able to leave, no?” Oddswell narrowed his eyes. “And if it’s stolen, why not simply bring the police into it? I understand before, but the detectives and their overseer have proven to be very reliable.”

I nodded. “I agree. I don’t know, honestly. But she’s very determined to keep...her business a secret. I doubt she would go to the detectives even under these circumstances.” I frowned. “I don’t know. You’re right. It doesn’t make sense. And...she would understand how magic works on the soul.”

Oddswell huffed. “A woman with secrets always leads to trouble. I fear there are a few layers here we aren’t seeing. Holly, I want you to be careful. Please. I wouldn’t hear the end of it if something happened to you.”

I put my head down in my hands. It was like I was dancing around a mine field, I thought I’d finally figured out where all the mines were, but now I realized that I might have stepped within inches of one...and needed to continue to move. “I always try to be careful, professor. I just don’t know what else to do. If something were to happen to Alice...I would blame myself.”

“We mustn’t blame ourselves for other’s choices.” Oddswell frowned. “And could you do one thing for me? I know you have a lot on your plate, but it’s simple. When you see Bendy tell him to come here. If haven’t seen him since before I was arrested and that was only the lightest of checkups. Stars, for how often they claimed he had attacks, I haven’t witnessed one yet! I’m concerned how he has held up for the past months.” Oddswell drummed his padded long fingers on the last file. Bendy’s file.

I nodded, tired. “If I see him before you, I’ll tell him to come here.” Oddswell didn’t have an answer for how to deal with Alice. Neither did I. I had to figure things out. I thought for a moment. The halo. That’s what was keeping her there. If only I could find the halo, we’d be able to get her out of the casino. She’d have no reason to stay. Which meant, somehow I needed to find it.

I stood, and felt a weight against my side. Blinking, I suddenly remembered. I pulled the cup I had taken from Dr. Flug's lab from my pocket. "Also, professor, the doctor gave Alice this. I was worried about what it might be, so I took this cup. Would you be willing to look at it and try to figure out what it is?"

The professor took the cup with a flick of his tongue. "Very well," he said. "I will see what I can find."

I nodded. “Thank you, professor.” I pressed my lips together. “And...Bendy seemed okay when I saw him. I don’t know that much about his attacks though. Other than one Xedo saw through the doll. He’s still been having them while they are out there, looking for the next item.”

“Thank you, Miss May. And don’t put the world’s problems on your shoulders. You aren’t the only one that cares and can help.” He pointed his pen at me warningly. I leaned back, eyebrows raised. “I would suggest talking to the detectives, but I am an outsider on this matter. You know more. You have good reason and a clever mind. Trust your instincts and choices.”

I nodded. “I will try my best and take your suggestion in consideration.” Should I tell Featherworth and Ringtail? I thought about the last time I’d called the police, how that had resulted in almost nothing. If Alice hadn’t been there...If Alice...I pressed a hand against my forehead. There had to be a safer way. Safer for Alice, for me. That halo. That might be it. Not going in to stop what was going on. But how to find it. I had a small idea of who to ask.

Waving goodbye to Oddswell, I moved out of the room. Red was passing by, and I waved to her. “Have you seen the Warners?” I asked.

“They went to get groceries with Dr. Scratchansniff, Dr. Boo, Finley, and Sammy I think,” Red said.

I nodded thanks, moving to the front of the house. Well then, I would have to wait. When I got to the front, everyone had mostly disappeared. I had just about enough time to call Betty and ask her if it was alright if I took the day off to help look for the doll before the detectives showed up at the door again.

“Are you ready?” Ringtail asked as soon as she spotted me.

Are you ready? That’s a funny question. Am I physically ready? Yes. Technically. Am I mentally ready? Heavens no! This was a far more complicated spell than something like ‘Fade’ or any of the others I’d used. This was a tracking spell.

Nevertheless, I nodded. “Do you have the match?”

So, the difference between what I’ve done and this spell is this. What I’ve done is usually a single rune used in a direct manner on an item that is present. The tracking spell requires several runes that are used on a direct item, but that doesn’t mean it will lock onto the particular element of that thing you desire. For all I know, this match could take us back to the tree it was carved from. Or the old lady down the street who made it. Tracking spells are notoriously difficult to master. But since we didn’t have anything to lose...  

“Alright! Let’s get this show on the road!” Ringtail clapped her hands. Featherworth offered me a small clear evidence bag that held the burned match.

“Where do we need to be?” Featherworth asked.

I thought carefully. “Let’s go out into the backyard.” One can never be too careful when handling runes, even normal runes. I couldn’t help but think about that poor whale I summoned again.

The three of us trudged outside, and I laid the paper I had collected on the table at the back. Carefully, I traced the circle and wrote the runes around the edge. Then I motioned for the match. When Featherworth handed it to me, I placed it at the center of the circle and added several lines leading to a square in the middle, where the match was.

I motioned for all of us to step back. Then, I activated the spell.

...Nothing happened.

The three of us stared at it for about three minutes before I tentatively moved forward to look at the match.

The match turned and looked at me.

I leapt about three feet in the air, and Ringtail caught me. The little stick insect tilted it’s head and turned to face all of us, moving far faster than any other stick bug I’ve seen. Honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised at this point.

But good leaping fly fishes! What is with me creating living creatures with my magic? At least this one is a real animal instead of some strange mutant.

“Is...that what was supposed to happen?” Featherworth asked. “Interesting.”

“I’d say freaky, but okay,” Ringtail muttered.

I stared at the bug, hopping down in embarrassment. “Maybe we’re supposed to follow it?”

The tree branch insect leapt off the table and scurried into a bush.

“Yeah, no. You can have fun with that,” Ringtail said.

“Rachel.” Featherworth bumped her shoulder.

“I am not chasing a bug across the city,” Ringtail said. “That will never hold up in court.”

The crow rolled her eyes. Despite Ringtail’s arguments, I started to crawl under the bush. Maybe fortunately, maybe unfortunately, I found the bug inside it about a minute later, munching happily on a holly berry of all things. Weren’t those poisonous? Nice to know even the normal things I make are strange. I pulled myself back from the bush and shook my head at Featherworth. “Nope. It was a bust. I’m sorry.”

Both of the women shrugged. “It was a long shot anyway,” Ringtail said.

“We appreciate the effort.” Featherworth smiled. “We better head out.”

I nodded, disappointment tainting me. I wish...but maybe in the future I could try and learn more about this spell. I made my way back into the house as they left. This left us with the question. How to find the doll?

We could just wait until the boys got back with the map, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. Having it missing and presenting them with a new problem as soon as they arrived, not to mention after all their hard work to get it in the first place.

I was just in the midst of this thought, sitting on the couch, when Oddswell appeared in front of me.

“Miss May, I’m glad you are still here. I am in need of some assistance,” the lizard said.

I blinked. “Yes…?”

“Follow me.” He waved as he walked up the stairs with purpose. “It’s a simple task. I’ll manage the difficult steps.”

I tilted my head but followed him.

He led me down a hall, past a few closed doors and into a door at the end of the hall. It was a lab room. There was a table in the center of the room that was covered in beakers, machinery, and chemicals. The walls had boards and newspaper clippings pinned up around it. He walked up to it without hesitation, lifted a dripper with black fluid in it and dropped several drops into a boiling solution. “I need you to mix that solution with the powder there and keep stirring it until I come to you to add this.

I inspected the solution. “Are you making the pills?”

“Precisely,” Professor Oddswell said, not taking his eyes off the beaker he was working with. “Miss Hood is too busy with our in-house subjects, and Mrs. Gopher is being a bit stubborn with her bed rest orders, so she can’t help at the moment. I hope this is okay with you.”

“Of course.” I looked at some of the other instruments. “I was just wondering if I could maybe learn a bit about how you make it from the beginning. I’ve been curious about whether I would be able to make the pill from scratch.”

“Well, you are rather close to the beginning of the process,” Oddswell said. He launched into an explanation of the chemicals he was working with and the mixtures and steps, repeating some of the things Granny Gopher had already told me. The drops he was using were the ink itself. There were a lot of steps to change the properties of the ink into the pain relieving pills that Oddswell and Red gave out to the sick. One the mixture had to be heated and stirred a long while. Then, we sifted the impurities out of the mixture through a distilling machine. Eventually, it crystalized and came out as tiny granules that we painstakingly put in pellets.

It was a lot of work.

I have to respect Oddswell a bit more for that. He does all of this to help people. My perspective on him is slowly changing.

“Oh curses,” Oddswell muttered. “I’m missing kratom. We’ll need it for the last few steps. Holly, can you run to the herbs shop and pick some up?”  

“Of course.” I looked up from the pellet I was working on. Dusting myself off, I made my way downstairs and out the door. It was mid-afternoon now. Somehow, I’d managed to forget about all my other anxieties in the course of our work. It was soothing.

I thought over things again as I walked. We could easily find the doll with the map. And if the doll had hidden itself, maybe it was in a safer place than we could hide it. My more pressing concern was Alice.

I blinked. Wait.

Hadn’t Alice said that angels and demons could sense each other? Maybe...just maybe Bendy could find Alice’s halo!

I let out a long breath. The boys had been gone for eight days now. They could be back soon. Or...heavens knew what might have happened to them, and they could be gone another week. I frowned, that was far too long to wait!

But then again, I had no other ideas.

Yen Sid help Alice.

I arrived at the shop a moment later. Inside, there was a mouse behind the counter, half-heartedly putting fresh and dried leaves in different containers. There was also a duck woman watering plants in the aisles of the shop.

A young man stood in front of the register, holding a parcel of herbs. The mouse handed him his change. “Good day, Mr. Jekyll,” she said drearily before going back to the work she’d been doing. I blinked. She...looked like she was having a bad day. I drifted through the aisles myself, looking for what Oddswell had asked. Then, I brought it up to the counter.

The silence was thick as she took my money. Tentatively, I felt the question form and bubble inside me. “Are you alright?” I finally asked.  

She looked up and sighed. “Yes. I’m just worried about my lost cat, Figaro. We have little posters.” She made a sad motion with her hands, sniffing.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” I frowned. “Do you have a copy? I can keep an eye out for her.”

“Oh please do! He’s a dear little kitten, and I’m so worried he’s lost in the big, big city,” she said. She reached behind the counter and pulled out a poster with a little black and white kitten with a bow around his neck.

“Meep!” Snowball appeared at my shoulder at her words, looking mournful. She lept from my shoulder and bounced onto the counter, rubbing up against the mouse’s hand. I saw the nametag. Minnie. “Meep,” Snowball continued, sounding consoling.

“Oh my! What a dear little creature! Hello.” She greeted Snowball.

“Sounds like she’s sorry about it too.” I smiled. Did Snowball...understand more than I realized? Snowball comforted her a moment more before we had to leave. As we left, though, she gave Minnie one last ‘meep’ farewell.

I got a few streets down before I noticed nurse Fanny and Dovil standing in front of a poster, talking. Curious, I paused.

“That looks like Minnie’s cat, you know, Daisy’s friend,” Fanny said. She was still wearing those glasses. They were in their nurse uniforms, short white dresses with little caps that had the hospital cross on them.

“Aww, poor kitty,” Dovil cooed at the poster. “I’m gonna look for him when my shift is over!” Dovil declared.

“I’ll come with,” Fanny drawled in what sounded like a bored tone.

“Wait _really!”_ Dovil said surprised. Her eyes were wide and bright with joy.

“Sure, why not?” Fanny’s tone didn’t change. Suddenly, a large muscular wolf in a construction worker’s getup approached the nurses.

“Oh sugarpie!” he called out brightly. His arm was in a rough splint. He must have been heading to hospital. A belt of tools sat around his waist, and a hard hat was on his head. He had a partly buttoned fannel shirt and work pants. Thick boots covered his paws.

“Aww,” Fanny sighed. She didn’t wound worried at all. “Another accident at work, hunny?” That made me blink. The careful neutrality and the way she held herself didn’t speak of closeness. She was married to the wolf? Then again, what did I know about that?

“Now, now, don’t you worry.” The wolf pushed himself between the two women and leaned over Fanny with a smirk. “Your man can handle anything!”

Dovil glared at him and crossed her arms. She huffed at his actions. It made me feel awkward simply watching. There was something I didn’t like about this wolf. But I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“You’ll tell ‘em to go easy on me with my bill, won’t chu?” the wolf asked as he wrapped his uninjured arm around the rabbit’s shoulders and pouted. It made me want to grimace. It was all teeth, and the smile felt all wrong. And then those wide eyes and downturned ears.

Nope. I’d pinpointed it. This guy exuded a sense of entitlement. That was why I felt odd about him.

Fanny tilted her head away from him. “Just talk to Dr. Pup. He’ll bail you out,” she muttered. “As usual.”

“Thanks babe~!” he sang and smooched her loudly on the cheek. Gross.

“Mhm,” she hummed. He moved to walk around her but paused. He leaned down and whispered something. She muttered something back.

“Alrighty, bye ladies!” he said loudly as he walked away.

Dovil stepped back up to Fanny. “What’s he whispering about?” She sounded suspicious.

I realized I’d been standing there for a good five minutes, watching them. What was wrong with me? I was getting too used to people watching. It was rude. I guess every person had their type, but in the short time I’d met Fanny, I hadn’t pinned her as a type to like the overly egomaniacal man.

“It’s not important.” Fanny brushed it off.

“I really can’t stand him!” Dovil huffed and clenched her feathered fingers.

“I know Dovil. Don’t mind him,” Fanny said and brushed a hand down one of her ears.

I did realize why I’d unconsciously stopped though. I had all this pent up energy and no idea how to fix any of the problems I had on my mind. Maybe it would be a good idea to do something useful then?

I approached the duo cautiously. “Excuse me. I could help too, if you don’t mind an extra person joining you to search for the kitty.”

“Uh, oh! Hello again! You’re that friend of Red’s!” Dovil said. “Fancy bumping into you here.”

“Holly, right?” Fanny asked with a raised eyebrow. “You know Minnie?”

I shook my head. “Not really, I just stopped by her shop just now. But I have the time and the energy so…”

“That would be great! The more the merrier!” Dovil clapped her hands together. “We’re off in a few hours. We can meet up in front of this poster again, if you’d like.”

I nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. I’ll see you in a few hours then.” Dovil said goodbye and Fanny sort of waved. I went back to Oddswell's.

It took us almost another hour or two to finish the process with the herbs I’d purchased, but finally we stood in front of an entire batch of finished pain pills. I thanked Oddswell for teaching me a bit more about chemistry, feeling for all the world like I was still a student.

Then, I made my way back to the poster.

Fanny and Dovil were already there, now in street clothes, which meant two very tasteful dresses. Fanny had her hat back in place over the glasses that hasn’t moved. All day. Well, we were outside now...I guess.

I waved at them, walking up. Once we were all together I asked, “So, do either of you know where Figaro disappeared?”

“No,” Fanny said.

“I know that Minnie and he liked the park,” Dovil said with a raised hand.

“Isn’t that near the bay? What if he smelled the fish?” Fanny suggested.

“That’s a splendid idea!” Dovil said joyfully.

I nodded. A perfectly solid idea. The three of us headed toward the bay, talking to people we passed. I stopped and bought a tin of fish in case that might help at some point.

Eventually, we reached the docks, but there seemed to be no sign of the cat. We searched around the nets on the boats and then even in the alleys between warehouses. Still, no luck. Although, we did manage to give ourselves a false alarm when a we saw a little stray, but she was entirely black, so we figured out quickly that it was the wrong cat.

We continued looking, wandering our way into the bay area and out to the shore. The ocean came into view. It was a bright evening. The sun glinted off the sea. It was actually beautiful. Too bad the ‘warehouse of evil’ was just down from here. It made me nervous being anywhere near the Sykes. What if Bill Sykes was there now? But then again, I know the police raided the place. But it would be pretty clever if they’d come back afterwards.

And that is when the oddest sight I have...Okay, _one_ of the oddest sights I’ve ever seen appeared. A bumpy shape rose from the ocean, then grew closer and more defined. There was a group of people sitting in a circle like they were around a campfire. But they weren’t. They were sitting on the back of a _whale._ As they came closer and closer to shore, they started to look...familiar.

“What in the world is that?” Dovil asked.

“Are they on a whale?” Fanny sounded surprised for once.

“Is that...Boris?” I saw wolf ears. I squinted as they got closer. “And Bendy!” A black speck with horns. He was alive!!!

And riding a whale to get back to Toon Town?!?  

The three of us continued to stare in stupefied silence as the whale got closer.

They weren’t alone either. There was someone holding a hat down on his head, two fellas with weirdly shaped heads and a... _was that a mermaid!_

My jaw just dropped, and before I could consciously register it, I had moved onto one of the docks to get closer.

She was a pretty girl with octopus hair and a shell over it. She talked lively to the others. It seemed that they hadn’t noticed they were getting near the shore yet.

What were Bendy and Boris doing with a mermaid?!?

The one with the hat looked up and seemed to notice the shore. With his head up I recognized him! It was _Felix the Cat!_

He _had_ gone with them! Oh my goodness, just what had Bendy and Boris been _doing_ in the last eight days? They’d brought back an entourage of amazing, wacky and...what?

Having seen all the rest, I had looked closer at the other two.

Were those...cups for heads?

Thrilling curiosity and deadly fear zapped through me together, practically forcing me to stumble backwards. What?

Ben...Bori...Assassins...What? Weren’t they trying to kill them?!? Was this some sort of odd hostage situation? The idea immediately crossed itself out as I saw Boris laugh. They were all to relaxed for that.

What in the name of Yen Sid was going on?

They all turned to watch the shore. The whale stopped at a dock and Felix pulled a knotted rope out of his bag and lassoed it around a post. He pulled it tight and, one at a time, they all climbed up. One of the cup fellas first, then Bendy with some an enormous gear tied to his back, Boris, the other cup guy, and finally Felix. The whale sunk into the water. The mermaid jumped out of the water and landed on the dock in front of the odd group. They all waved as the whale disappeared from sight.

Even for Toon Town, this was just bizarre.

They didn’t seem to notice us.

“Well...that’s something you don’t see everyday,” Fanny muttered.

“What _did_ I just see?” Dovil asked and blinked.

“A wolf, demon, cat, mermaid and two cups riding a whale,” I said distantly as I continued to stare. “Applesauce, that sounds like a start to a bad joke.”

“It sounds like you’ve been drinking,” Fanny said. “I wouldn’t believe you except I just saw it myself.”

“I’m afraid if I blink they’re all going to vanish. I’m too young to be having hallucinations,” I responded. Especially of Cup assassins.

“Don’t those two look familiar?” Fanny murmured.

I almost started to say that it was Bendy and Boris, but Dovil spoke first. “Aren’t those the brothers we treated at the hospital?” She raised a feathered finger to her beak.  

Hospital? Fanny scowled and started to march toward the group.

“Oh dear, she’s on the attack.” Dovil sighed and crossed her arms over her chest with a sigh.

Much to my surprise, she marched right up to the Cup Assassins. I had a little bit of a heart attack, and then they saw her.

Both of their straws jumped up and changed shape. They looked like...exclamation points? Their expressions changed to something close to surprise and a little bit of fear. Did Fanny...know them? More importantly, did Fanny _intimidate_ them?

She started jabbing a finger at the taller one. His face darkened with a blush. The other was ducking behind him. But...But...weren’t they dangerous?

How did those exclamation points work? Did it detach from their heads? Did they always do that when they were surprised? Why was a grammatical mark a part of their physical response?

How did they stay upright with heads that were so large? Was the liquid inside heavy or light? And was that _foam_ coming out of one of them? It was shaped like...hair? How did it stay in shape? How was it so frothy? Wouldn’t the wind just blow it away? Why did one have hair and the other one didn’t? Nevermind the hair, what about the liquid? Wouldn’t it fall out? And what was the liquid anyways?

Also, what was with the trench coat? It looked like something from a detective movie.

I blinked, rising for air from the sea of questions that had engulfed me. I took hold of my faculties and approached Bendy and Boris. “Hi…” I said, still pretty gone as I continued to stare at the Cup Assassins, then at the mermaid, then at Felix, then back at the assassins again all in turn.

I sort of failed at retrieving my senses. “How was the trip?” I don’t think I’ve ever said much more of a dumb dora thing in my life.  

“Holly!” Bendy’s and Boris’ face lit up.

“What are you doing here?” Bendy asked.

“Looking for something.” I’d forgotten what.

“It was...well a trip, but we got the part!” Boris said with a toothy smile.

That _finally_ brought me back. I blinked and my head snapped towards him. “You did? That’s amazing!”

They grinned.

However, before I could start in on the one-hundred and twelve different questions I had at that precise moment, Fanny intervened. Stars, that woman! She stole all of them away!

“And _you._ ” Fanny marched up to Bendy and clapped her hands down on his shoulders, inciting a half shriek from him. The star-fallen man is a demon!!! Who does that!!! “Don’t think I missed that. You’re coming too!”

Bendy jumped away. “What’s your problem lady!”

“You’re also injured,” Fanny said it bluntly, in almost a chilling tone. Doom had fallen, and all those who had transgressed were about to be dragged to hell for punishment.

Then, I blinked. Wait. Bendy was hurt? I took a closer look around. Well, it seemed they all were. Only the mermaid and Felix didn’t seem to be battered.

Fanny swung towards Boris. He raised his arms in surrender. “I-I’m bandaged!”

“You too then!” she commanded. Boris had fallen as well.

Then, Fanny’s roving gaze swung towards Felix. He scratched the back of his head, looking like sweat was forming. “I’m fine,” he offered weakly. Fortunately, fate had been kind and spared the poor soul of the famous cat writer.

Once Fanny turned to her, the mermaid leaned back, nearly falling back into the ocean to affirm she had not offended the Goddess Bunny of Healing, daughter of War by garnering any injuries.

“Alright then! You injured idiots start marching!!!” The culling had been finished and the prisoners of doom had been chosen and were now being taken to the terrible Fortress of Antiseptic Bottles and Prescribed Pills.

“But we have to go to Oddswell’s,” Bendy protested weakly.

The Goddess Bunny of Healing, daughter of War pinned the demon down with her great eye, warning of the great havoc and retribution that would commence if any more struggles were taken against her. She would heal him and then beat him to a pulp with her needles of _doom_ _!_

“I-I guess I’ll take it for you Bendy.” Felix made a desperate attempt to save the heroic demon.

Cue the dramatic romance scene. (I’m so glad I’m writing this in retrospect because to be honest I was on overload in the moment. Questions were scrolling through my head like a waterfall. Never. Ending. I had no thought process left. Just recording processes. Thank goodness for my talent.)

Suddenly, the beautiful mermaid cut in to speak to one of the assassins. “Will I see you again soon, Mugman?” she asked, tears glistening in her eyes at the thought of being seperated from her...mug?

The mug in question seemed uncertain, turning away to look at the Bunny Goddess. He knelt to meet to the sweet sea maiden.

“Are you going to work near a beach or around the ocean?” the girl asked. “I could find you again after your trip to the Fortress of Antiseptic Bottles.” Her eyes glittered hopefully. (Yes. I do know that’s now how it really went, but I _don’t_ _care_.)

“I am not sure wherefore I mightst go from here, sweet maiden,” the ceramic headed man replied. The mermaid’s expression and countenance fell into despair. “I-I shall endeavor to see thy sweet face again,” he comforted her.

The mermaid’s despair turned into glimmering specks of gold thought that rose into the air like tiny suns. She magically pulled a pearl from thin air.

“I bequeath this token of my affection to you. At the time when we can meet me again, cast the stone into the blue liquid, and I will find my way to you.” She hesitated. “I will find my way to be with you on land.”

“Do not put yourself through the trouble,” the killer-cup assassin-knight protested.

“I have nothing left of the sea!” she proclaimed. “I only wish to be upon the land with you!”

The knight-assassin promptly turned the shade of a dark tomato. I wasn’t aware cups could do that. Apparently, I’ve not been aware cuperware can do many things. “I shall see thee soon.”

Caught in the dramatic grasp of love, the mermaid grabbed the assassin’s shirt and pulled him in for a kiss...on the cheek.

Dovil squealed in delight. “That was so cute.”

The Goddess of Healing, daughter of War grumbled her discontent with the scene and with that the entourage was snatched away like a bushel of leaves in the autumn wind.

(Disclaimer: Some of the words and action in this previous section may or may not have happened in the exact manner that was portrayed here. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of these events as this is her personal journal and unless you are blood-related to her, you have no business reading this in the first place.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tap here! I never get tired of Holly’s thoughts! She seems so level headed and quiet in the main story, but then you come to her journal, and BAM, her mind is going a hundred miles per hour. XD This chapter was a swing of emotions, and it isn’t going to stop anytime soon ladies and gentlemen! Hold on to your hats!


	66. October 30, Sunday (Part Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a happy Turkey Day everyone! I hope you all enjoy the holiday! I'm getting two days off work this week, so I'm pretty pumped. Tap and I had a lot of fun with the things that happened in this part. Some of the scenes were things that we thought up a while ago, so it was exciting to finally see them happen. New conflicts are arising!

I stood there and stared at them.

But...but...but...

“Aren’t those two trying to kill them?” I said hoarsely.

“Kill them? What?” I blinked and nearly jumped when I realized that _Felix_ _the Cat_ was still standing there, right next to me.

I started to answer his question, but then I noticed the _enormous_ gear in his arms. “Is that...the item?” Did it have that same runes as the doll and the map? What could it do? How the star-fallen applesauce were we going to hide something _that_ big?

Felix stared at me for a moment. “Let’s talk and walk. This thing is a little heavy.”

That made me blinked, and I was able to free myself from the scrolling line of questions. “Okay.”

The cat hoisted the gear on his back, and we started walking.

“You know where Dr. Oddswell’s house is?” I asked as I walked beside him. Ah, my second thick question in the last ten minutes. Well, what _do_ you ask a celebrity who's just come back from a dangerous adventure? 

“I’ve been there once or twice,” Felix said with his calm smile.

I smiled weakly, feeling nervous. “What does it do?” I said in a low voice, eyeing the cog in fascination. Did it have the same runes as the other items? How did Felix join the boys? Why did they return by _whale_? Why were the Cup assassins working with them?

I told my head to shush and tried to concentrate on the cat in front of me.

“We aren’t really sure.” Felix narrowed his eyes and gazed at the dock wood boards in front of him. “The boulder spider and mermaid were huge. It seemed to change them, but I’m not sure how. We’ll have to have a closer look when we can.”

“Giant _boulder_ spider?” As in those aggressive little… “Wait, you don’t mean the mermaid with you?” Stop diving for every question that jumps in your face, I scolded myself. Get to the point! I needed to keep a straight head, this was _Felix the cat_ after all.

I raised my hands. “Wait. Wait. It might be best if I just waited until we’re at Oddswell’s house, if you don’t mind telling us all what happened while you were all there?”

Felix grinned. “That might be best. So, you’re a friend of Bendy and Boris. How did you meet?”

My face went red. (I swear, If I’d been thinking clearly!) “I sort of followed a friend of their’s back to where they were hiding.” My jaw dropped, and internally, I started to beat myself up. What’s wrong with you! You don’t tell a complete stranger that! Especially when he happens to be one of the people you admire most in the world!!! I raised my hands quickly. “I’d met them before briefly. When I heard about what they’d been doing, I wanted to know what the truth was.”

He laughed. “Sounds like you’ve had about as much of an interesting time as we have. They seemed happy to see you again.”

That brought me back to the present. I put a hand on my chest. “Yes. I was so relieved to see them too! A lot of things have been happening here. We were worried...something had happened to Bendy and Boris. But mostly Bendy.”

“Happened? Didn’t they tell any of you that they were leaving?” Felix blinked a bit surprised.

I nodded. “Of course they told us. But…how much do you know about the items, Mr. Felix? The first one specifically?” He’d been traveling with the boys. I could trust him, right? Of course I could trust him! He was Felix the Cat!

“More than the common man, less than I’d like,” Felix admitted with a sigh.

“Do you know...how it affects Bendy?”

“What affects Bendy?” Felix asked. “His, uh, condition?” His ears drooped a little at the thought.

He didn’t know!!!! I might have started to babble a bit after that. I suppose it made sense if they were focused on getting the...cog? The end result was that I told Felix about the doll and how it was linked to Bendy.

“Which brings us back to today,” I finished. “This morning the mob burned down Xedo Tiptail’s apartment...where we were keeping the doll. We’ve been panicking most of the day about it because the doll is...missing.”

Felix’ eyes grew huge. “The burns…” He took a breath. “That explains the burns!”

I blinked. “The burns?”

“The reason that nurse took him away,” Felix said. He frowned. “It’s missing. Well...they have the map. We should be able to find it. Hopefully, the mob doesn’t have it, and if they do, they don’t know it affects Bendy.”

I nodded. “I hope so. Xedo and I came up with a theory, actually. The doll...was strange. The box moved by itself. Almost the entire time since Xedo got it. We think maybe the doll...protected itself?”

Felix blinked in surprise and turned thoughtful. “That would make sense. These items are ancient. They wouldn’t have lasted so long if they were so easily destroyed,” Felix said.

Just then, we rounded the corner in front of Granny’s house. I nodded. “It makes sense.” I hesitated, thinking about all the questions I'd had about what had happened to them.

“Aw, here we are. That’s a relief.” Felix smiled. We walked down the street. A car drove past. A black car.

My eyes went wide, and I shoved Felix...into a bush. It was the black car, alright? We still don’t know who's in there watching us? That car is suspicious, and for some reason, I don’t think it has anything to do with the Sykes, which makes me even _more_ worried. Felix had the cog. I couldn’t let some random person with bad intentions see that!

“Merouch!” he yelped in surprise as he landed in the middle of a thick layer of fronds. “Um, Holly? Is everything okay?”

I continued to keep my eyes riveted on the car as I stood between Felix and the road. “That guy’s been watching us for a while. We should really get the item inside.” The car turned a corner, and I blinked. I realized what I had just done. “I am _so_ sorry!” I put my hands up to my face.

“I’m fine, but...Uh, I think the gear is stuck and since I’m tied to the gear, I’m stuck.” Felix laughed.

“Oh, oops. I’m sorry,” I muttered again. I went around the bush and pushed him from behind, helping him get back on his feet.

“Aw! There we are! We best get inside before that car comes back!” Felix said.

With that, the two of us hurried inside and shut the door. Xedo was in the front room when we arrived, and I don’t think I’ve seen such excited surprise on his face in...Well, since he published his last article on Ink Illness. It made me grin.

“By the stars! What is going on here!” Xedo said hoping to his feet.

“Sorry to barge in like that. We needed to get in quickly.” Felix smiled and shrugged.

“We’re not in any danger I hope,” Xedo asked.

“I don’t think so right now,” Felix said and shrugged off the gear. He sighed as it hit the floor gently. “Fyu. That’s a relief. Bendy made that look easy.”

“Bendy?” Xedo’s ears perked.

“Yes, he was...He’s at the hospital right now for some minor injuries, but he should be here soon,” Felix said. “I’m Felix--”

“I know who you are. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Xedo nodded.  

I grinned, nodding quickly. “Let me go get Dr. Oddswell!” Practically sprinting, I ran down the hall and into the lab where we’d been making the pills. “Professor?” I called out.

“Yes?” The doctor looked up from a microscope.  

“They’re back!” I laughed. “Well, _they_ are at the hospital, but they’ll be back soon. They succeeded, and Felix the Cat brought us back what they found!” I was practically humming with excitement. The lizard raised a brow.

“Well, I believe I have a moment to meet a guest,” he said. He wrote something on a paper next to the microscope and stood up.

I grinned. “You can’t fool me, professor. I know you’re excited.” With that, I ducked out of the door and hurried back down the stairs.

Xedo and Felix were talked animatedly. “That big?”

“Yes! I couldn’t understand it!” Felix said. My eyes went big.

“How odd. And the high sea mermaid was two stories?” Xedo asked.

“Xedo, did you two start without me?” I tried to keep the disappointment out of my voice. Stars.

“Sorry, Holly.” Xedo dropped his ears with an embarrassed expression. “Couldn’t help myself.”

I waved my hands quickly. I couldn’t really blame him. “Nevermind. The professor is coming.” I darted towards a seat, grinning at them all.

Felix’ ears perked. He looked up the stairs.

“Mr. Cat, it’s good to see you again. If you are traveling with Bendy and Boris, you must still be getting into plenty of trouble,” Dr. Oddswell said in greeting.

Felix laughed and scratched the back of his head. “Me? I wasn’t the one that just got out of prison.”

The lizard snorted. “Touche.”

Felix chuckled. “It’s good to see you again, professor.”

“You as well.” Oddswell nodded. “I hear that you have a tale to share. Shall we have a seat in the front room?” I grinned at that. I was. So. Excited.

“Of course,” Felix said and picked up the gear again. The four of us sat, the gear thunking at Felix’ feet.

Subtly (Okay, not so subtly), I scooted closer to Felix and started to wash the gear with my eyes. How did this one work? Did it have the rune? Did it have the rune? Did-it-have-the-rune?

Felix launched into his tale explaining the pillar, the caves, the boulder spiders and the mermaid. Xedo only interrupted twice about the spiders and the mermaid.

I...interrupted several ten times, asking questions like what the symbol that had been on the entrance to the caves had looked like and refining details on how the giant monster mermaid had worked. Oddswell threw in a few questions of his own. (Felix must have felt very over-questioned by the time we finished) The whole story ended up taking about an hour to tell.

Felix asked for a glass of water when we were done.

By the end, I was crouched in front of the gear, protective gloves on as I inspected the shape and groves of the object.

Hidden on the inside circle was the same rune that had been in the doll's mouth. Lines and rectangles decorated the gear, but they didn’t appear to be runes. Once again, it was that same rune with no other to accompany it. The mystery thickened. The doll might be hiding more in the inner layer, but where else could a person hide runes on a giant metal thing like this?

I needed to finish that translation. The page would probably be the best source to go to to understand what was happening.

I almost wanted...to touch it, but considering what had happened with the doll, that definitely was not wise.

Then again...Felix wasn’t wearing gloves...

I nibbled on my lip and turned back to the others. “Um, Mr. Felix?”

“Yes?” he said after he finished his water with a smack of his lips.

“In the time you and Bendy were around this gear, did anything weird happen when you touched it? I just want to know if I should be careful.” I put my hands on my knees to keep balance as I half turned away from the piece.

Felix’ lip quirked up in uncertainty. “Well, I’m not sure. It had an obvious effect on the mermaid and spiders but didn’t do anything to Mugs or the rest of us.”

I nodded, quirking my mouth. Well, it must not do anything upon touch, at least under short exposure. I carefully removed one of my cotton gloves and pressed the fingers of my right hand against the metal.

The cog didn’t feel anything like I expected.

Gears were made for machines. I’d expected the metal to be rough, dirty. But the hard surface practically glistened underneath my skin, sending a spark of excitement into my heart.

Also, something strange. I ran my fingers down the curves, edges, the crevices. There wasn’t a single bit of dirt or a tiny speck of dust on it. It was very well crafted too, the edges weren’t too sharp. It felt used, but it looked brand new.

This had been stuck in the mermaid’s _head_? And it had been glowing? What fantastical magic had it been performing? The thought of what sort of minds could have created it made me excited about my own experiments. It made me want to go out and practice my own magic like I had as a little girl. Just one unknown rune after another.

I looked over the gear one last time, but finding nothing more, I rose from my crouch and removed my other glove.

“Found something worth sharing, Miss May?” Oddswell asked.

I turned back to him. “It has that same rune. But other than that and the fact that it’s unnaturally clean, it looks pretty normal. Obviously, there’s something about the Micco technique we are missing here.” It should have disappointed me, but for some reason it didn’t.

It was a challenge.

And I was excited.

“I noticed that,” Felix said. “And according to the boys, the other place sounded like a rather typical temple, but the caves had no hint of a civilization besides the entrance.”

I blinked and looked up. “You’re right. That is strange. Perhaps each temple is designed for the item it houses?”

“I don’t know. We didn’t spend a lot of time to check thoroughly. It was most likely only a few hours,” Felix said. “The underground rivers were quite intricate, I wish I’d had more time to study them, but after Bendy’s attack, about two days ago, I felt time was of the essence.”

I blinked at Felix. “Heavens, how many times did Bendy have an attack while you were gone? First the one seven days ago and now another one two days ago? I know the professor said he gets them a lot, but that’s terrible.”

Felix blinked. “I only know of the one...How long did you say?” Felix gave me a confused look.

“Well you see, Mr. Cat, the ink illness attacks usually happen a couple times a month, possibly once a week, but Bendy’s are more--”

“I’m sorry professor, I mean, how long have we been gone?” Felix cut him off gently. Xedo blinked now, his ears falling.

“Is there something the matter, Mr. Felix?” Xedo asked.

“Just double checking something,” Felix murmured, looking back at me expectantly.

I blinked at him. “Um...Today would be the eighth day you all have been gone, not counting the false start the boys had when they came back.”

“Eight…” Felix blinked. “What’s the date today?” Felix looked around the room.

“October thirtieth, the day before Halloween.” I frowned. “Mr. Felix, are you okay?”

He looked at the cog with furrowed brows. “That doesn’t add up. We should only have been gone for _three.”_

Now it was my turn to frown. “Maybe you were lost in the caves longer than you thought,” I said weakly. But five more days of it? Wouldn't they have noticed?

“It should have only been a few hours,” Felix muttered. “We didn’t sleep in the caves. We didn’t eat or drink...for _five days?_ That doesn’t add up. What happened?”

“Interesting,” Oddswell said. “I wonder what that means.”

I turned to stare at the gear. “You think it’s...the items?” But Xedo had kept the doll in his apartment for over a week and no strange time twists had happened. I shook my head.

“Would the boys know anything? They’ve been in another temple before?” Xedo asked.

Felix shrugged. “I don’t know. It isn’t like I noticed a difference. Heavens, I don’t even feel that hungry.”

“Are you hungry?” Actually, we should have asked him that the moment he got here. After what they’d been through...

“A little, but not a _I-haven’t-eaten-in-days_ hungry.” He sounded amazed. He then gasped. “Do you think that’ll catch up to us? Like the starvation will come at some point? Or if I leave the cog?”

“I hope not,” I said bluntly, feeling a little bit of horror. “Let’s get you something, either way.”

Felix paled. “No! Not me, _everyone else._ The boys were all injured!”

My eyes widened. “Oh no.”

“We haven’t received a phone call yet, and Fanny knows me. If something of that caliber happened, either her or Dr. Puphead would call.” Dr. Oddswell stood, once again the voice of calm reasoning. “I don’t think we should be concerned until we have a sure reason to be.”

Xedo nodded. “I agree, but I also think Holly has a point. Let’s feed you and then worry about them when they come or when we get a call.”

That said, everyone went to work and in short order, food was being cooked. I found myself washing dishes while Felix sat at the table, where Red had firmly ordered him to rest. I turned back to him as I dried a plate. “I have been meaning to ask you, Mr. Felix. Are you very familiar with runes?”

Felix looked up from a glass of water that Red kept refilling every time it emptied. “Fairly. It is a branch of my field of research.”

I grinned. “I could use your opinion on some things, then.” As I continued to wash, I explained some of the things that had happened during my experiments with the ink from the illness.

Felix crossed his arms. “How odd,” he said. “I wonder why that is. Joy…”

“From what I've heard, a positive attitude is what helps people the most if the have this illness.” I scrubbed the inside of a coffee cup.

“It is for most sickness.” Felix smiled.

“Yes, but more so for Ink Illness,” Xedo commented. The cat nodded.

“What I wanted your opinion on was whether you think any of the runes could be altered to help those with Ink Illness.” I scowled. “I don’t know quite as much about their use in complex spells as I’d like.”

Felix tilted his head with a curious glint in his eyes. “Have any runes been used on a patient yet?”

I shook my head slowly. “Considering what some of the runes did to the ink...I haven’t been comfortable doing that. And other things kept me busy as well.” Although, if Wakko had been here about three hours ago, the potential of a test like that might have gone up.

Felix lifted his hand to his chin. “I’m sure if we run the runes and the results by Professor Oddswell, he’ll know which ones are safe for patient tests. We’ll need a volunteer too.”

The sound of the front door opening distracted the cat.

“Hello?” Bendy called out.

It was at that moment that common sense finally reinvaded my head, and I realized that if Bendy and Boris were coming in that door, those other two probably were as well. I should have told Oddswell. Oh, horsefeathers.

Pure chaos was about the ensue.

“Bendy!” Felix smiled. “We’re in the kitchen!” he called out.

“Felix, that might not be a good idea--” Too late.

“Hey everyone.” Boris walked into the kitchen, eyes tired and cheerful. Bendy and...the assassins were behind Boris.

Oddswell froze in horror, and Red looked like she might pick up the pan on the stove next to her and swing it.

Oblivious of what was going on, Felix greeted them all cheerfully. “Hello, Boris. Seems you all got out of the hospital alright.”

“Define alright,” the cranky looking, one eyed cup replied. He froze as he saw Oddswell and Red. “Ah, cuss.”

He sounded just as tired as Boris, but not nearly as cheerful. Bendy’s head swiveled between the assassins and the doctor and nurse. I saw the wheels start to move in his head. I facepalmed myself. What the horsefeathers was happening here?

Bendy’s mouth made an ‘O’ of understanding. “Let us explain.” He raised his hands in a stopping motion, but I noticed Red had actually picked up the pan now. This woman was ready for war. What was with the medical people around here? Did they go through some sort of battle coarse before they were certified? Were they training with the police? Could I too?

I glanced nervously at the two cup people.

Oddswell only adjusted his glasses. (Which proved to me he was nervous.) He looked at Bendy. “I think that would be for the best.”

Felix kept on looking back and forth between the two groups in confusion. “Um, what’s the matter?”

“The matter? The matter?” I jumped as Red snapped the words out. She pointed at the Cupbros with a stirring spoon that had magically appeared in her other hand. “Those two attacked me and left me for dead! They shot at all of us! What are they doing here!”

Good question.

I honest to goodness have no idea what was going through their heads, because then the two assassins had the gall to look...guilty. The one who’d been talking to the mermaid ducked his head and the other turned away a little. “Not for dead,” he said softly.

Yeah. Like that made what had happened to Red any better.

“Shush, you aren’t helping.” Bendy elbowed the guy in an almost...comfortable way, in the way that you do to get a friend to stop doing something stupid. A friend? A friend?! What in Yen Sid’s name was happening here? Those two were _assassins_ !!! _The mob_ was terrified of them!

“They saved our skins,” the one eyed assassin continued, ignoring Bendy’s attempt to shut him down. “A couple of times. Even though we were after them.” Guilt flooded both their faces, making me blink.

“We couldn’t just--We wanted to.” The one with the scarf seemed to struggle for words.

“We wanted to pay them back,” the other said straightforwardly. It seemed to be his manner.

Bendy frowned. “You already did that.”

Boris nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, you saved me from that mugger!”

I blinked again. They wanted to...repay them? “We decided we could help on their quest,” the scarf man continued. “It was really dangerous before, so we figured it would be just as bad next time.”

“And they let us tag along,” the one eyed one added, scanning the room in a slightly challenging way.

Their words were meant to assure, to convey purpose, peace, but they just sent another shock of suspicion through me. These guys worked for the big ‘Boss’ Robert Sykes had mentioned; the same person who could make a toon disappear without a trace, without a single shred of evidence; the same person who seemed all too determined to stop what we were doing. And now, oh so conveniently, they wanted to repay the boys and help with the quest that their boss seemed bent on _stopping_? This smelt up to high heaven.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, because Oddswell spoke up. “Bendy,” he started.

“Look doc. These fellas went to the mountains and saved our skins three times over. We wouldn’t have survived without them. You got a problem with that, we’ll leave.” That surprised all thoughts out of me, and I stared at him. He'd leave? Just like that? Bendy trusted these two enough cut his connections with everyone?

Well, I couldn’t just sit here without even trying to point out what made me suspicious of them. “Then, what about your connection with the mobsters that have been trying to kill us all for the last week? The ones that just burned down Xedo’s apartment?” I glared at the two cup men. What about their meeting with those Sykes brothers?

“They did what!” I blinked in surprise, as Bendy raised his voice, his eyes going wide. I’d forgotten they didn’t know. That had been a rude way to tell them. I bit my lip, feeling bad.

“The mob burned down Xedo’s apartment this morning, along with trying to blow up Featherworth and Ringtail a few days before that.” The accusation in my voice went down.

“Do you know who?” I turned as the one eyed cup asked me a question.

He made me nervous, but I wouldn’t let that get to me. I scowled. “The Sykes brothers.” Apparently the people these two were supposed to go after if they failed to kill us. What exactly was going on here? They were supposed to go after the Sykes if they didn’t succeed, yet they were sitting here playing friends with Bendy and Boris? It was down right twisted!

“Oh golly! Those guys are bad news!” The one with the scarf even had the gall to look worried.

“You’re saying,” I muttered. “They’re terrified of you two.”

The one eyed one snorted, looking a bit proud. “Good.” Heavens man, that’s not something to be proud of!! I swallowed the words back down my throat.

It probably was for the best, because Red was ready to add her own suspicion to the table. “Friends of yours?” she snarled from across the table.

One-eye turned, not looking the least bit apologetic now. In fact, it seemed that the more accusations people threw, the less apologetic he seemed. Like a...defense mechanism? “Is that a thug comparison? Don’t put me on the same bar as them. I might not be a good schmuck, but I’m not scum.”

“Oh really,” she threw her response back like a bullet. Seriously, is there a place I can sign up for the classes? “So, tying up and beating a woman is what you would consider chivalrous?”

I swear, a chill ran through the room as One-eye raised his good brow. “You’re breathing, walking, and still able to talk. In the work we were doing before, yeah lady, that’s kind.”

My jaw dropped. For half a second with all the boy’s talk I had wondered...But that was the talk of a cold blooded killer. What had Bendy called this guy? Cups? He was a Killer Cup.

Boris’ kind, pleading voice invaded the room. “They really are trying to do good now. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

I pressed my lips together. It did. But were they really trying to do good? Or were there other...motivations? I stared at them suspiciously again.

Oddswell shifted, and his tongue flicked out. “Forgive us for our hesitance, young wolf. There is a lot at stake here, and caution is necessary.” Boris frowned at him. Oddswell was right. I was entirely confused by what had changed Bendy and Boris' minds about these assassins so quickly.

Ugh,” Killer Cup growled. “Forget it! We’ll just go.” The toon turned to go. Bendy grabbed his sleeve. I nearly had a heart attack. (No, not because he grabbed him, because the assassins were going to leave.) I know, it doesn’t make sense. I don’t trust these guys as far as I can throw them. (I can’t hit the flat side of a barn, by the way.) But having an enemy you can see is much better than having an enemy that showed up in a dark alley when you weren’t expecting it. And these two looked like they were very capable of showing up at inconvenient times in dark alleys. Maybe I should change my tactic?

“Not so fast man,” Bendy said. “We’re talking this out.”

“Why? They won’t listen,” Killer Cup snapped.

Bendy paused for an odd moment, frowning. “If they aren’t going to give you a chance after being a thug, they won’t give me one for being a demon.” That hit me in the heart like a bolt to the chest. “If you leave, I do too,” Bendy said with certainty.

But...But Bendy was a good person even if he was a demon. The rune mural had proven it...I blinked. Wait...Wait a second...Hadn’t I seen these two before?

I stared harder. I...Hadn’t I? Why couldn't I remember?

In the next moment, it hit me. They had walked underneath the mural. I’d had a conversation about it with them, when they’d been looking for Bendy and Boris. My jaw dropped again. The mural had made them cold.

Even if nothing else had made me suspicious of them before, this did now. I closed my mouth, staring daggers. However, it was obvious that I couldn’t prove anything under these circumstances. I would have to find more information, like the Sykes meeting with these two.

Scarf-boy looked at Bendy in confusion. “But you haven’t done anything wrong.”

Bendy shrugged. “But I was scary, right?” But that had nothing to do with it!!! I wasn't suspicious of these two because they were scary, (Alright, it did make it a little easier to be suspicious.) I was suspicious because of evidence! Applesauce!

“No! You--” Boris started.

“Bro, you gonna tell me that you weren’t scared of me for even a moment?” I frowned, blinking at Boris. He turned to the assassins as well. “Or you two?”

What...did he mean?

Then, even Felix. “Or you?” None of them looked him in the eye.

“We got over it,” Killer Cup muttered. Got over what?

“Yeah, it was berries after the first shock,” Scarf boy added.

“But people attack what scares them. Most don’t give the time to ‘get over it,’” Bendy pointed out.

Argh. Was that the point he wanted to make? Tell us all to take a moment to put our fears aside and give them a chance? Bendy…!! If this demon didn’t have my full trust I’d...shake him in my imagination. (Stop rolling your eyes, I know that was pathetic.) Golly, I hate this. But if this is what Bendy required, I would go with it. For now. It sort of hurt that he shut all our concerns down so quickly...almost thoughtlessly. But it mattered more that he, they didn't leave. It didn't mean I trusted those two. At. All.

Just then, Felix stood up. “Look, I don’t fully understand everything going on here. I might not have a right to speak up since I am so new to this situation, but I went on a quest with you four. I saw you all risk your lives for each other. Regardless of your pasts,” Felix looked at the assassins, “or your species,” he looked at Bendy and Boris, “I can vouch for your characters. I would be honored to go on another adventure with any of you. This team is one of the best I have worked with, and I think we can do even better if we stick together. If there are problems, I say we face them together.” Then Felix smiled, giving the rest of us eyes of expectation.

...Even Felix the Cat was vouching for them?

Bendy and Boris smiled, looking at each other. “Yeah!”

“So?” Bendy looked at the cupperware brothers. “Cuphead, Mugman, you are the ones that wanted to be friends, you’re not going to be able to shake us so easy now.”

Slow smiles spread across their faces. “Yeah alright. We’re in. We’ll stick together,” the Killer Cup said. They both grinned.

“Good, because any other answer would have been denied!” Bendy raised his chin in triumph. “Now.” He looked at the rest of us. “Are we welcome here or should we go?”

Bald horsefeathers, this demon. He was giving us no choice.

Groaning on the inside, I unfolded my arms. “If it matters to you that much, I’ll accept it,” I said weakly. A sigh escaped me.

Silence fell for a moment more before Xedo spoke. “We won’t be able to finish the machine without you and Boris. I also accept your condition, Bendy, but I suggest you be careful.” Yen Sid help us, that was true.

The awkward silence fell again. Bendy looked at Oddswell. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the professor so still. It was living death, like the more intense his emotions were, the less he could let out.

“Professor Oddswell?” Felix asked.

The doctor looked at him, no emotion on his face. “Even you Felix?” Well, that sounded like it might hurt a bit on the doctor’s end.

Felix nodded, lips pressed together and certain. In the end, that is what moved Oddswell. “Very well, but it will take more than that for me to trust them.” That was an understatement.

“Ryan!” For a moment I was disoriented, then I realized that it was Red who had yelled. She looked furious. Her face was crumpled into a mask of intense anger, and she waved her spoon and pan at Oddswell.

“Ms. Hood, this is bigger than us, and as Bendy, Boris and Felix have said, they saved their lives,” Oddswell snapped. “They returned because of their help. I may have problems with this situation, and I may be offended on my and your behalf, but three people I have trusted with all my subject’s lives and have earned my respect are vouching for them. I cannot ignore that.” It was as emotional as I’ve ever seen the good doctor. He had almost yelled.

Red’s face darkened even more, and she pounded the pan and spoon down on the stove like they were the cup assassins. She fled through the back door. Doctor Oddswell let out a tired sound and moved to follow her without any hesitation. “We will talk more when I return.”

The room fell into a dark silence that made my throat close. “We screwed up,” the scarf...Mugman? said. Boris gave him a consoling pat.

Ugh. No. I didn’t want to sit in a room with this much anxiety in it. I got up, the sound of my shoes on the ground loud enough to make me cringe. “Well, we just finished cooking...if anyone’s hungry.” When in a difficult position...act like everything’s normal?

“Starving.” The need in Bendy’s voice couldn't be more apparent. Well, that had been a good idea. I couldn’t help but smile as I went for the plates to set the table.

“You’re sure it’s okay?” Mugman said.

“It’s fine,” Bendy said with the certainty that belied his opinion. The group in the room slowly started to sit down and prepare the table. I listened as Felix asked the assassin brothers to explain more about how they had come to befriend Bendy and Boris.

Felix nodded, but then frowned. “Thought you all knew each other before that.”

“We did. They were chasing us,” Boris said matter of factly. I blinked. Boris...Boris. How can you be so calm? “But we did team up with Mugs once in New Orleans to save Cup from an evil voodoo lady,” the wolf continued nonchalantly.

“Evil voodoo lady?” I leaned forward. When had that happened? 

“Yeah, you saw her kid at the trial,” Bendy explained. Oh...I remembered that. “Turned Cups into a little normal teacup.” I blinked. A cup. I stifled a snort and turned to look at the Killer Cup.

“Watch it.” He scowled at Bendy.

“What was it _like_?” The words popped out of my mouth before I knew they were there.

“Horrible.” He shuddered. “I couldn’t talk, couldn’t see, couldn’t cussing move. That nutty woman would taint me every meal time and every time she wanted tea.” He looked a little haunted. “I will never be able to take enough showers.”

I felt a little sorry for him, but...I also had a hundred more questions. How did he stay alive with no vital organs? So he could still feel the outside world as a normal cup? How was that different than being a cup the way he was right now? So that meant that this voodoo woman was a witch then. What sort of powers did she have to be able to turn a living toon into a cup? What had it felt like to have someone _drink_ from you?

“So, you two won’t explain more on why you were after Bendy and Boris in the first place?” Xedo’s question suddenly interrupted my thoughts.

Both the assassins tensed and went quiet. “We...can’t,” the scarf one said quietly.

I’ll admit it, that sunk my heart down about a foot deeper.

“We don’t really know why our boss wanted to stop them,” the Killer Cup said. Well...that wasn’t helpful.  

“And...you still work for him? Who is he?” Xedo asked.

The Cup man gave Xedo a look I didn’t like. ““I can’t really answer those. Mugs and I are trying to go straight, but there are some things we just can’t talk about. None-a-you need to worry about us, we won’t cause ya trouble.” He glanced at Bendy, a smile playing along his lips. “Pranks and jokes off the table of course.”

Bendy narrowed his eyes. “You start something, I will finish it dishware.” Oh, that was a good insult.

“Is that a threat?” Cuphead quirked his head in challenge. What was this?

“It’s a cussing promise.” Bendy threw back as if he was anticipating it. Some sort of brotherly headbutting match?

“Oh no, Bendy don’t!” Boris shook his head.

“Don’t break anything, boys,” Felix said.

I rubbed the sides of my head. A pranking match? What? Were they both twelve?

Xedo gave me a concerned look, and I shrugged. They weren’t acting...dangerous?

“By the way, I learned out little trip took us eight days,” Felix said casually. Killer Cup and the Scarf choked on their drinks, eyes wide. I shook my head at Felix. An hour ago he couldn’t get over the fact.

“What! Eight days!” The cup wiped his mouth.

“But we were only gone for three!” the mug protested.

Bendy and Boris’ reactions were...calmer. They blinked, looking slightly concerned, but not very. Felix shrugged. “I know, but according to the calendar, it’s been eight.” The mug shook his head in wonder.

“And according to the eight days everyone else has lived through,” I couldn’t help but add. I thought about how, four days ago, Robert Sykes had said he was about to meet with the cups. Were they...late? Did that cause...problems?

“Bendy, didn’t that happen to us?” Boris suddenly said.

I blinked, looking at him. It had?

Bendy blinked too. “Uh?”

“In New Orleans,” Boris persisted.

Bendy blinked once more, nodding and putting a fist in his hand. “Oh yeah! That’s right! We thought we were in that swamp temple for a night, but then, it turned out to be days later!”

The cup man turned to Bendy. “You didn’t think to warn us!” he growled.

The wheel started to turn in my head. This must mean that there was something special about those temples.

“So, this happened at the last temple too.” Felix looked thoughtful. His ears perked in a way I recognized. Curiosity. “I wonder how they do it.”

I wondered as well. And if I didn’t know for a fact that I wouldn’t last five minutes in a place like that, I’d be half tempted to go to there and look for myself. Could it be runes?

I looked out the window, and in the far, far distance I saw an array of lights in the darkness. Alice. I blinked. How could I have forgotten about her? And there was the fact that the doll was still missing. No one, not Xedo, not Oddswell, not me had mentioned that. Should I?

“So.” I felt a little guilty for forgetting. But it wasn’t like I could have done anything. “There’s something the rest of us...forgot to mention in all the chaos that went on when you--.”

Boris suddenly perked up. Apparently I’d spoken too softly. “That’s right!” He turned to Xedo. “Is Wiston okay? You said your place was burned down!” I felt like groaning. Well, it looked like the conversation was heading there, either way.

Xedo nodded calmly. “He’s fine, but there is a problem.” He paused, looking at me.

“The doll is missing,” I finished. “It disappeared during the fire. Wiston tried to find it when he escaped the building...but it was just gone.”

“Wha--” Boris nearly stood up, dropping his fork.

“Ah, cussing stars!” Bendy growled. “Can’t we keep ahold of that cussing thing for longer than a month without it trying to kill me!” It wasn’t an unexpected reaction. Once again I felt guilty that they had to come back to this and...several problems.

“We don’t think the mob has it,” I tried to reassure. “It was...moving itself at times after we left it at Xedo’s. We think it might have moved right out of danger.” I glanced at Xedo.

“Not completely.” Bendy sneered, lifting his shirt. It was covered in a swath of white bandages. “The sucker got nicked at least.” Xedo’s eyes widened. I nearly gasped. Oh, stars!

“But where is it now?” Boris prompted, looking at us again.

Felix lifted a hand to interrupt. “Wait, you’re saying that you got burned because--”

“Because the cussing doll got burned! Yeah, that’s how it works,” Bendy grumbled and dropped the shirt. Felix frowned, his brows knit in concern.

Xedo got up. “Bendy, I am sor--”

“Don’t bother.” Bendy waved a hand. “It’s not like you tossed the thing into a stove. That thing has it out for me, I swear,” Bendy muttered. “You don’t have to apologize, Xedo.” Xedo still looked like he _wanted_ to, though. I felt the same way as Bendy, though. Wiston had nearly died. If it hadn’t been for Fireball...

“That’s kinda freaky Bendy,” the cup muttered.

“About as freaky as a giant black-eyed sea monster,” Bendy said bluntly, folding his arms. Boris pulled out the map and unrolled it and the rest of us leaned over to see. Once again, to my frustration...blank. I put my chin in my hand.

Boris frowned. “There has to be a way to find it again.” My brows lowered. That didn’t sound good. I glanced at both of them. Their eyes roved the blank page with growing concern. They couldn’t see it. That was bad.

“Can you...sense it or something Bendy?” the mug asked. Bendy gave him a look that said, ‘What do you think I am?’ and shook his head.

Wait a second. Sense. That did sound sort of funny, but was there a way to sense the items. They had great magical power. That itself would make them stand out.

“Where would it go?” the cup suddenly asked.

“What do you mean?” Bendy frowned at him.

The assassin shrugged. “Well, they said it moved around right?” He waved at hand at me and Xedo, turning to look us expectantly. “Where would it go?”

Xedo blinked, looking uncomfortable. “I would usually find it next to the door or on the desk,” he offered stiffly.

Suddenly an idea clicked into my mind. Sense it? Who sensed magic? “And maybe...we could use Snowball,” I added, looking up at Bendy and Boris. “I’ve realized she’s very sensitive to magic, especially strong magic.”

“That little flying hedgehog thing?” Bendy clarified.

“It’s why she didn’t like when I altered the map,” I added. I think. She didn’t try to run from anything else like that. Well, other than the doll…

“So she might be able to sense it,” Boris asked.

“Well, no point just talking about it, let’s do this,” the cupman said, putting down his fork.

I nodded slowly. Well, it wouldn’t hurt. Snowball has a habit of sleeping in my pocket when she isn’t out causing mischief, so that’s where she’d been most of the day. She hadn’t liked the smell of Oddswell’s chemistry, so she’d taken a nap. I pulled her out, still sleeping. She made a little grunting noise and raised her head slowly, sleep still in her eyes.

Then she saw Bendy and Boris. It was the sweetest thing to see her perk up happily and give them a greeting.

But then she saw the cup assassins.

She froze and an emotion I can only describe as wonder and excitement entered her little beady eyes. What the horsefeathers?

Before I could stop her, she had projected herself off my hand and toward the two deadly figures sitting across the table. She sang with pure joy as she flew, and I could only watch in horror as they stiffened and Snowball landed on the mug. She clawed up his scarf, eyes eager and curious as she ran across his stony shoulders, pausing to sniff here and nibble there. Then, within another thirty seconds, she finished and used the mug man’s chin as a launching spot to jump and catch the handle of the one eyed cup.

Stars above, Snowball, why do you like to give me heart attacks!

My mind was blank with horror.

“Um, I’m guessing that’s Snowball?” Mugman asked.

“What is it?” the other one turned his head, which swung Snowball in a circle as she held on. She let of a gleeful cry of fun.

Brain still not quite working yet, I vainly motioned for Snowball to come back. Of course she didn’t, the little fuzzball. She never behaves when she’s excited about something.

“It’s a dandelion hedgehog,” I answered. (Like that explains anything.) “Snowball,” I begged. “Come back here.”

Snowball only gave me a happy greeting, as if affirming that ‘Wasn’t this wonderful?’ No Snowball, this was not wonderful. You’re swinging from the ear(?) of someone who mobsters have nightmares about. As if reading my mind, she climbed up past his handle and started to run along the rim of his head. Oh, yes, Snowball. That’s so much better.

“How?” Mugman asked.

Bendy snickered. “Mmaaaaagic.” He wiggled his fingers at the assassins.

“I made her,” I tried to explain. This, unfortunately, was forcing me to get up and try to retrieve my renegade pet. From the cup man. This made me nervous.

“Yeah?” he asked. He lifted a hand to the little dandehog. Snowball made a happy sound, nibbling at his fingers.

As he started to scratch her head and she closed her eyes in delight, I blinked. Snowball really was very comfortable with him. Why?

“What is with you and little animals?” Bendy suddenly asked.

The guy smirked. “They have good instincts.” Bendy rolled his eyes. I scowled.

Then, Snowball cannonballed into the guy’s head. The sound that the cup man made at this point can only be described as a cross between a chicken squawk and one of Fireball’s screams. He went cross-eyed, shoulders hunching and mouth scrunched up.

Almost everyone promptly burst into laughter.

I couldn’t help it, I did too. “I-” I suddenly, strangely felt bad for not being able to control Snowball better. “I’m so sorry!”

“Uh, Cup it’s--”

“I know Mugs,” the cup growled. I blinked.

“Do...you need some help?” Felix offered.

The assassin hunched his shoulders, seeming to settle. “I’m fine. Little thing just surprised me.”

His brother raised his brows. “You’re not getting it out?”

“Why should I?” he shot back.

“Because you bit my head off when I had that squirrel in my head as a joke!” he said, sounding slightly offended. My head turned, ping-ponging back and forth.

“That was a filthy wild animal! This is a pet! That’s different!” he snapped. Then, Snowball only made it worse by surfacing and giving Mugman the most smug little look I have ever seen. He frowned at her.

Just then, Xedo cleared his throat. “We’re looking for the doll.” I let out a breath. Thank heavens for Xedo and the fact that nothing distracted him from his goal.

Snowball was still smirking at the other assassin, so I quickly plucked her from the cup man’s head while everyone was distracted. Moving quickly back to my chair, I set her on the table in front of me. Then, I stopped. Wait. Snowball...was really soft. I looked down at her, and she gave me a very self satisfied expression, laying on her back, asking for a belly rub. She wasn’t even wet.

“So, how are we doing this?” Mugman asked.

“If the doll is still near the apartment, I was thinking Snowball could sense it,” I said grudgingly as I continued to run my fingers across Snowball’s bristles. It was really, really soft. And...did the base of the bristles feel more firm too?

“Stick it on the map.” I blinked as the words penetrated my thoughts.

“The map? What will that do?” Bendy seemed to disagree.

“That thing is connected to the parts, right? So maybe she’ll sense it through that thing,” One-eye said with a shrug. 

“That’s a dumb plan.” Bendy shook his head. No...the assassin was right. Snowball practically was another version of the map. Just a few different runes.

Cup shrugged. “Magic’s dumb sometimes, alright!”

That made me scowl. No it wasn’t!! It was just very difficult to handle! I pressed my lips together. “Actually, that sort of makes sense. Snowball was made when I was added runes to the spell that works the map. She could have a very direct connection to the map and the other items since she was made with similar magic.”

That made a smirk form on the cup’s face. He sent a triumphant look Bendy’s way. Bendy returned it with a glare. “Fine,” Bendy said. “It won’t take long anyway, so when Snowball doesn’t do anything we can go to the apartment.”

The longer these two were together, the more they reminded me of a pair of brothers messing with each other. It made me uneasy. I set Snowball on the map and almost instantly she started to sniff, the little irises in her eyes getting large. She crossed back and forth over the map, the wimsey that she usually carried with her gone. Then she blinked, intelligence entering her eyes again. She sat down firmly on a blank corner of the map. “It’s, uh,” Bendy muttered. “That can’t be right.”

“What?” the cup man asked.

“Here,” Boris said. “She stopped at our address.”

“Maybe it’s the cog?” Felix suggested.

“That’s a possibility,” Xedo added.

Boris looked at Snowball. “Can you tell if there’s another one? We already have the cog here.” It was a little strange to have Boris talk to her like she would talk back. I blinked. Well, Snowball was certainly aware. Could she somehow communicate back?

Snowball frowned at Boris and settled deeper into her crouch.

“So what? You’re saying it’s here?” Bendy asked.

Snowball tilted her head and practically gave him an eyebrow raise, sarcasm riddling her body language. The sassy little…

I blinked as the two assassins stood up. “Alright then, better start looking.” What? Just like that? No questions?

“B-but how would it get here?” Xedo challenged. “That doesn’t seem to make much sense.”

The cupman glanced at Xedo, head tilted, brows raised. “When it comes to these things, it doesn’t seem ‘sense’ applies.”

Okay, I have to agree with the toon on that.

If the item was here, then Snowball could help us find it, right? I picked up the small animal. “Can you show us where?” My little pet blinked, giving me a happy grin of agreement.

So, I let her go...And she immediately launched herself for the older assassin again, slipping into his head quicker than I could blink. I had a feeling...that this was going to be a repeating problem from this point on…

“Alright then.” With that, the assassin moved into the next room. We wandered around the front room, Snowball indicating where she wanted to go by which part of the rim she settled on. At first she inspected the cog, quickly moving away from it once the cup neared it. Then, she led us up the stairs, through the lab and into a little room with a couple bookshelves.

Clearly proud of herself, she bouncing from her spot in the cup’s head and landed on the ground, disappearing into the bookshelf itself.

Before I had time to wonder if maybe Snowball had finally decided to leave for good, Bendy and Boris cried out.

“How?” Boris gasped while Bendy knelt next to the bookshelf and started to remove books. The next moment, a slightly scorched doll was removed from a hiding spot behind the books. I stared. It really had moved itself all the way here.

Things dissolved from there. The _Warners_ showed up. Chaos reigned. 

I will say one thing about it. Stay away from Dot when she’s on a mission, and stay away from the little box she carries. Lucky for everyone, Bendy fully caught her attention when he explained (once again) why the assassins were here.

Eventually, I caught a moment alone with Dot and asked her about what I’d seen Alice doing. Her response wasn’t good. “They’re obviously stealing her magic, a lot of it. But what would a demon want with a bunch a angel magic?” What both I'd and Oddswell had thought.

It had me up and pacing about the room for the rest of the night. When Xedo and Wiston got up to go to Alice’s apartment, I just gave them my keys and told them I would be in later tonight. I wasn’t in the mood to sleep despite missing a good rest yesterday. And after hearing that the Sykes had a meeting with the assassins and knowing those two had been upset after hearing how many days they had missed I had a feeling that they might do something as soon as possible. When they wouldn't be noticed. 

So, at night.

That was how I ended up out in the yard, heavy jacket on as I watched the window of their room. Going out the door would have been too obvious.

Honestly, I had almost fallen asleep when they started to climb out the window. They landed just in front of the little garden surrounding the house.

Ha. I was right.

Then, again, I was terrified that I was right.

What exactly were they doing out here, so late at night? Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. My ‘Fade’ bracelet securely tied and activated on my wrist, I very quietly trailed them down the street.

They started to talk quietly. I moved in a little closer to hear.

“The bar?” the mug man asked.

“This late, any cussing alley will work,” his brother replied.

We got about fifteen minutes away from Granny’s house when they started to talk again.

“Remember what they did?” Scarf-boy said. “I was a little distracted.”

“They failed to blow up those female detectives,” One eye replied. “And they burned down that fox’s apartment.”

His brother whistled. “Awful.” Awful? I tilted my head. 

“Yep,” the cup replied.

“Think they’ll be surprised to see us?” the mug asked. Who? The Sykes?

“Knowing that loud mouth right hand, probably not,” one eye replied. Loud-mouth right hand? So not the Sykes.

What I didn’t count on in all of this was Snowball.

As I walked she had started to stir in my pocket. She’d been asleep. I didn’t really notice at first, I was so intent on the two in front of me. But then she crawled all the way _out_ of my pocket and ran up the front of my jacket.

 _That_ startled me, and I stopped, staring as she perched on my shoulder. She sniffed the air for a moment. I had about five seconds, in which I realized with a horrifying surety what she was about to do, before she leapt into the air for the assassins.

Without much ceremony at all, Snowball smacked into the one in the scarf. Then, realizing her mistake...she turned to the other one. And greeted him happily!

“Snowball?” one of them said. “What are you doing here?”

I watched from behind me tree with growing dread. This couldn’t be very goo-- The cup started to look around.

Oh horsefeathers.

I froze on instinct.

“You might as well come out,” the older one said.

Personally, I thoroughly disagreed. There were multiple reasons I should stay where I was, one of them being that I valued my life.  

He sighed. “Well then, finders-keepers.” He shrugged and lifted the little fluffball. “I’m renaming you Puff. Wanna stay with me, little fella?”

The dumb dish.

It worked.

Without a dang second thought, I moved. “Hey! Give her back here!” I stumbled from behind the tree.

I am such a dumb dora.

At that moment my head was light with adrenaline. The cup man laughed. “Oh, so you were here?” he said in good humor.

I didn’t know how to take that. So, I ignored it. “Yes. I was here. I’ll leave, so just pass me Snowball.” If I just stuck her in a buttoned pocket, I could put back on my bracelet and…

“Sure, but what in the world are you doing out so late?” That was not the response I had expected, and I blinked. The guy tickled Snowball’s belly, and she gave a little squeak of delight.

I wanted to glare at her. This puffball was in so much trouble.

I sighed, putting a hand over my face, looking for an explanation that would actually be believable.

“You weren’t trying to follow us by any chance, were you?” I froze. He smirked at me. This schmuck knew exactly what I’d been doing. He was messing with me!

Snowball let out another happy squeak. I glared at her. Little traitor.

But if he was willing to play the lying game…

“I...,” I searched for any reason to be out this late, “was...heading home?” That’s something that could be true. “I saw you two and wanted to ask a question.”

Yeah. Like anyone would believe that.

He took a step forward. I blinked, tension instantly threading through my entire body. “Oh yeah. What question?” he asked.

He...was continuing this? Then, his words penetrated my brain.

What question...? I was almost offended.

Something clicked in my brain, and all sense of self-preservation switched off. Autopilot turned on. “Well, what about where did you come from? How are you here? Are there more of you? Why are you shaped like a dish? How do those cracks heal? Doesn’t being ceramic cause you problems when you fight?” Question after question flooded my mind with little effort. I could have continued for another fifteen minutes, but then I realized I was being nonsensical again. I swallowed. “But...that’s not what I meant to ask you...I just wanted to know where you were going...this late.”

The cup stared at me.

That had been a bit much. I cleared my throat, looking down. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.” A distant, more sensible part of me started to lecture. This guy was an assassin, out to probably do something very shady and dangerous, and I was standing here apologizing for asking insensitive questions?

Much faster than I expected--It was stupid to have looked down--he was right in front of me. He placed Snowball on my hand and suddenly clapped both hands on my shoulders. A spike of fear returned.

Oh applesauce. I was doomed.

“Do you really want to know?” He smiled in a way that brought me no comfort.

“Uh, yes?” My throat was no closing up.

That’s when my feet left the ground. It surprised a scream out of me and the next moment I found myself hanging mid-air, something sharp poking the back of my neck through my jacket. I wiggled, grasping the branch behind me in a panic. “Hey!! What do you think you’re doing!!”

This-was-not-good. This-was-not-good. This-was-not-good.

“Punishment.” He grinned, wagging a finger at me. “If you’re going to stalk someone, don’t get caught.”

That shocked pretty much all speech out of my head. “I…” Wasn’t. Yep, not working. “What?” were you doing? Obviously, mocking me. “But…” If you know I was stalking you, why were you just hanging me in a tree?

“Besides, there are a lot of scary people out at this time of night not nearly as nice as Mugs and I.” The cup’s grin widened, and he stuck his hands in his pockets.

What? I blinked again. What?

That was not an illuminating answer.

His brother looked between the two of us. “Uhh?” Though there was a bit of humor there. The dang dish.

“You can’t just leave me here! I-” I looked at the ground. I was afraid of heights!!! “I don’t know how to get down!”

“You can hang out and think about your choices. We’ll get you down later if you can’t figure it out!”

I stared at him as he turned to walk away. What? What the flying pigs and bald horses was wrong with this toon? “Good night!” he waved.

“Hey!” I called out. “Hey!”

“I’m sorry!” His brother ran after him. “We’ll be back!” He gave me an apologetic look.

That just made me mad. I didn’t want his  _pity_ _!_ “Don’t bother, you cracked-headed, trenchcoat wearing, dirty dishes!!!” I bellowed at the top of my lungs (secretly hoping that someone else would hear me yelling and get me down).

They disappeared around the corner.

I continued to hang.

Snowball rubbed up against my cheek.

I brushed her away with my hand. “Don’t start. I’m mad at you.”

Fifteen more minutes passed.

“It’s cold.”

And that’s how my night went for the next five hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snowball is so precious and adorable and sassy! I love that puffball! XD And woooo boy! That drama! I can’t believe the drama the boys came back to. And I am so sorry Holly ended up in a tree! XD That’s rough, but Cup had to make sure she didn’t follow them, and he didn’t want to hurt her. I love this. And it’s interesting that Cup and Bendy are already so friendly with each other. I’m sure the same is with Mugs and Boris. Guess it comes with the whole ‘well you risked your life and saved mine’ thing. XD


	67. October 31, Monday (Part One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Here's the next part of Holly's journal. You know, I never expected so much to happen, but lately _all_ these entries have become so long. A lot of stuff is happening and lots more will happen. XD I'm excited. Anyways, enjoy the entry!

I writhed as I watched the two cup men walk out of sight, the older one still with that obnoxious smirk on his face.

That pet-stealing, one-eyed  _snark_!  The branches around me shook, raining leaves like it was parade day. I still held desperately at the branch, afraid of falling. My stomach kept dropping when I looked down. Why’d he have to put me so  _high?_

I tired myself out in about fifteen minutes. After that, I hung limply from the branch. Fifteen minutes of adrenaline from looking down had finally gone away, so I just glared at the ground.

I had a problem.

I still didn’t want to fall.

“Hey!” I yelled as loud as I could, hoping someone would hear. My voice faded, and I listened. Nope. Nothing. “Is anyone awake!!!” I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Is anyone out there!!!”

An owl hooted in the distance.

“I don’t appreciate the snark. It’s not like I stole your branch from you on purpose,” I told the owl curtly. “If you have a problem with it, I would appreciate some help getting down from here. Maybe you have a cousin with a ladder?”

The owl stared at me with large eyes. It twisted it’s head all the way around and upside down. I blinked and leaned away. “You have a very intense stare,” I murmured.

Suddenly, the bird took off from its branch, disappearing into the dark.

“Don’t leave me alone!”

Snowball had the gall to ‘meep’ offendedly at that moment. I turned and glared at her. “Don’t you start. This is  _your_ fault. I would have been perfectly fine if you had a little self-control when it comes to those two.”

Snowball lifted her nose, making a grumbling, discontented noise. She scampered up the branch and started to nibble at the back of my jacket.

Panic immediately speared through me. “Hey. No! Snowball, no!” I reached up and grabbed the branch again. “I don’t want to fall. I’ll break a leg!” Snowball scampered out of the way, giving me an exasperated look. I tightened my grip on the branch. “Don’t give me that look. You can fly. Of course you’re not afraid of heights.”

The rodent deflated and gave a comforting ‘meep’ before scampering down to my shoulder again.

I tried yelling for a bit more, but nothing happened.

And my shoulders were starting to hurt. I was going to have the worst soreness tomorrow. I searched my mind for other options of getting down.

Runes! Of course, there were a thousand different runes that could lower me  _slowly_ down.   

That’s right. I could even think of one worth a try. It was an anti-gravity rune. Not flying, but at least better than falling. It had been called…‘Lift.’ That was it. I’d be down in three seconds flat! Why hadn’t I thought of this before. Why hadn’t I…?

My inkwell was back at Granny’s.

I patted my pockets just in case.

They were empty.

It’s not like I’d expected to write out runes on the go. I usually did all my testing at home or at Granny’s! I had ink at both of those places!!

I desperately searched for anything to write with. A twig? Sure, that would make a great pencil. The dirt? Oh, yeah, I could draw all sorts of runes in the dirt.  _If I were on the ground_.

I’m never going anywhere without an inkwell again.

Technically, getting down was ridiculously easy. All I needed to do was slip my jacket sleeves. I looked at the ground again.

You know, someone would come eventually.

Thirty minutes later my shoulders really started to hurt, and I knew my feet were falling asleep.

Snowball was back on the branch, chatting with a squirrel. I reached my hands up. Could I maybe lift myself up there and climb down? Hands on the branch, I pulled as hard as I could.

Mmmmmmm! I lifted about an inch before falling back down, even more securely settled onto the end of the branch. I had no arm strength to speak of.

Applesauce.

After about an hour, I was seriously considering a drop. The problem was that my feet had fallen asleep completely. That was really going to hurt.

But...I wanted down.

The leaves in my hair, the bits of bark that went down the back of my shirt were driving me crazy.

So, I wiggled.

The branch shifted. More leaves rained down on my head.

I was too heavy to move it.

At this point, several hours had passed, and Snowball had made a nest in my hair (despite my protests). She was sleeping soundly...and I was exhausted.

So, much to my surprise, I fell asleep.

What greeted me when I woke up was not pleasant.

It was the snicker of a Killer Cup.

“Whelp, seems your up a tree without a ladder there,” Cuphead said. The horizon was barely showing signs of sunrise.

I glared at him through bleary eyes. This was a moment where I should probably have acted calm, tactical, or even just guarded. These two were dangerous, after all. Who knew what they’d been up to last night. Probably had been with the Sykes. But no. I was mad. “Go blow bubbles with your straw, dish face,” I snapped at him.

“Ooooh, I hope you don’t kiss your mother with that mouth,” Cup snickered. He rested his hands on his hips. “You want some help down?”

“No.” Yes, please. “Go away.”

He shrugged. “Alright. See you later.” He turned to walk away with an evil, easy-going smile. I glared at him as he walked, his brother still standing a few feet away.

I didn’t care how stupid I looked, I was gettin’ down from this tree, and I was  _telling_ the boys about this.

I wriggled even more, trying to pull my arms from my sleeves.

C’mon. C’mon.

Snowball started to stir on my head. She let out a confused ‘meep.’

“Cup, what are you doing?” Mugs sighed.

“What? She didn’t want my help, let’s go home,” Cup said.

“Cuppy, I’m not leaving that girl up there again.” Mugs frowned. I stopped wriggling and glared.

“Why not? It’s funny.” Cup smiled. “Besides, she doesn’t want our help.”

“I can’t imagine why,” Mugs muttered and stepped up to the tree.

I folded my arms, glowering. “I can get down  _myself_ ,” I snapped. “I told you before. Don’t. Bother.” Please do. My arms hurt.

“Fine,” Mugs said and reached up to hook his hands under my armpits. “I won’t be bothered by it.” I blinked. He set me down like I was made of glass and didn’t let go of my arms. It was a good thing too because my calves and feet instantly were attacked with the leg cramp of the century. It was like a thousand tiny ants were all biting at once. “I suggest waiting a second and letting your legs remember how to stand.”

I couldn’t help it, I had to grab his arm quickly. Ow. Then, I slowly sunk down to the ground. I tried to bite back any words at this point, good or bad, but I heard my mother’s voice at the back of my head. Gratitude never did anyone an ill turn.

“Thank you,” I muttered to him.

“Cup, you killed her legs.” Mugs gave him a disapproving frown over his shoulder.

Cup shrugged. “She said she could do it herself. It’s her fault for getting caught.” I glared at him, then at Snowball, who I now noticed was sliding through his hair again. Obviously, I had to be careful not to bring Snowball when these two were around.

Mugs rolled his eyes. “You’ll have to forgive him, Miss. He’s thoughtless when it comes to others.” I propped my chin up on my hand. That was the least of his problems. I shook my head.

Cup snorted. “Can we go now? I’m exhausted.”

“ _You’re_ exhausted,” Mugs said.

“If we hurry, we might get another hour or two of sleep,” Cup said.

“Alright, alright.” Mugs sighed.

Good riddance.

I massaged some feeling back into my legs. However, I didn’t get the chance to use them. Mugs picked me up princess-style. I squeaked in surprise, flailing for a moment. Then, we started walking alongside his brother back to Granny’s house.

I folded my arms. At this point, I had exhausted my reserve of hot emotion. “You realize I can walk. In fact, I’d prefer it. You both mystify me to the point of exhaustion.”

“Exhaustion is exactly where we’re at,” Cup said. “And Mugs isn’t gonna let you go stumbling into the street at this time of morning. People don’t care about the usual road laws right now.” That made me want to roll my eyes. Like I hadn’t been out at this time of morning before. When I’d been homeless, some days there hadn’t been anything better to do than get up early and get moving.

Mugs huffed. “Let’s just go to bed.”

That made me blink. “Okay, that’s it. I’m getting down. You two are nuts.” I struggled to get up.

“Sorry, couldn’t hear you,” Mugs said, looking off to the side. This one was just as abominable as the other one!! He just pretended to be nicer!

I threw my hands up in the air. “Well, I’m going to have to walk eventually! What do you think you’re going to do, carry me in through the back window?”

“Hey, there’s an idea,” Cup said. I glared at him. Mugs rolled his eyes.

“Just until we--Cup.” Mugs’ voice suddenly tensed. “Trouble.” Mugs' his eyes turned forward. My head whipped back and forth between Mugman and where he was staring.

“What?”  

“I know. They’ve been following us for an hour,” Cup muttered. He kept his face relaxed though. Following, so they must be behind…? I had enough sense not to look.

“Split?” Mugs suggested.

“They’ll go after you, since you have the dame,” Cup said with a shrug.

“Or you could just put me down.” They ignored that.

“You won’t let them get close,” Mugs said. “Besides, I can dodge.”

“Alright next bend,” Cup said.

“Ya know how many?” Mugs asked. How  _many_?

“Two cars,” Cup muttered. “They switched halfway down. So, up to eight schmucks?” I blinked, mind instantly going to the car I’d seen outside Granny’s.

“Is one of them a nice, sleek-looking black one?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Cup gave me a curious look. A question sat in his gaze. “Black, yes. Sleek? I’ve seen better.”

“The bend’s coming,” Mugs said. “Meeting?”

I frowned, turning to just barely peek over Mugman’s shoulder. There was a black car, not the one I had become familiar with, that turned onto the street and was lazily rolling down the block.

“Baker Street is fine,” Cup said. “It’s not like it’s a secret where we’ve been.”

“Alright, see you there,” Mugs said. The two shared a glance. Then, when they reached the end of the street, Cup sprinted left and Mugs dove right. I stifled a gasp and  _held on_. This guy could move  _fast_  I realized as he sprinted down the sidewalk. I could hear the car hit the gas and just as Cup said, it turned right to chase us.

Mugs hopped over a yard fence and into an alley. The car drove around and followed. Mugs dodged trash cans and boxes like he was a bunny. The car roared as it gained on us. I stared in horror at the car as Mugs skidded to a stop next to a ten-foot chain link fence blocking the way. That might be a problem. Usually, didn't a person have to jump something like that and grab on to the top? I gave Mugman a worried look. The car slowed, knowing that we were cornered. The window came down slowly, but the person inside didn’t reveal their face much to my annoyance. I hate secrets.

“Your time in this city is up!” the man barked in a hoarse voice. “You’ve interfered too much in our business and ruined a good trade!” Oh, the mob. That was bad--The car revved. I flinched, gripping Mugman tighter. Oh heavens!

Mugman scoffed. “If all it took was my brother and I, you fellas were playin’ on a house of cards!”

“We have you cornered!” another one shouted.

Mugman raised a brow and smirked. “Oh really?” He suddenly gave a little hop back into the fence. But we didn’t hit it. Somehow we were on  _the other side of it?!_   The mobsters exclaimed and cursed.

“Flying pegasus’ horsefeathers?!” I jumped, shifting in his grip.

Mugs chuckled.

“Hey!” Cup shouted. I looked up to see him perched on the roof. “Are you schmucks picking on my little brother?” I blinked, looking up. That was  _not_ how I would describe what had just happened.

“Cussing dishware!” The car revved to ram the fence. Cup pointed and a blue blast left his hand and nailed the front of the car. I gasped. Mugs did the same, shooting through the fence.

I stared in absolute fascination **.** "You can shoot things with your  _finger?_ ”

The blasts hit the engine and the car sputtered to a stop right as it touched the fence, feet from us. “You bozos sure you wanna tangle with us?” Cup called down. The doors opened. Two big, muscled men stepped out of the back. Two more at the front. “I already took out your friends!” Cup continued with a mocking tone.

Where did the energy come from? It was blue? So, it was different than you’re regular red magic glow? Why did it come from his finger? Did that hurt? Was it hot? What was it  _made_ of? Could it be used for other purp--

My thoughts were interrupted as each of the guys pulled out a gun. My eyes went wide.

“Mugs bail!” his brother shouted. Mugman did the same little hop, and suddenly, we were at the end of the alley. A couple ‘pings’ sounded around us, and I ducked, hands over head. We rounded the corner. Mugman kept running. He didn’t stop until we were back at Granny’s house.

There was a couple moments of silence. As we got closer, I looked up at him. “Weren’t you working with the mob?” Something I knew for a fact. “Why are you trying to beat up each other?” Something also that had also become painfully clear.

He put me down gently and looked up and down the street. “People don’t like it when you cut ties. They lose resources. Some rather see ya dead than walking away if they lose out,” he panted.

I gave him a moment to catch his breath then frowned, folding my arms. “Didn’t they say you were interfering, that you ruined them?”

Mugs shrugged. “Who knows what schemes we ruined when we stopped working for the scum in this city. If the trade empire they had going on here collapsed because Cuphead and I quit, then it was a weak system to start with.”

I quirked one side of my mouth down. I didn’t buy it. “I don’t suppose you’ll admit what you were out doing tonight?” Well, if he was going to feed me a story, I might as well read the entire thing.

Mug stopped scanning the street and looked me in the eyes. “We went to get things straightened out and tell people ‘we quit.’ They didn’t like it.”

I blinked. I suppose that could be true. Those cars had shown up right after they got back...And maybe they’d told  _off_ the Sykes if they’d met with them. Honestly, these two had me confused. This one’s guarded kindness confused me, and the way the other had messed with me and  _stuck me in a tree_ hadn’t been malicious, just mischievous, like when he and Bendy had been talking about pranks. This whole night had balled me up like nothing else.

I scratched the back of my head. “Oh. Well...I’m sorry they didn’t like it?”

Mugs chuckled. “Why are you sorry? The gobsmacked look on their faces was one of the best things I’ve ever seen.” His voice suddenly dropped in pitch like he was quoting someone. “What do ya mean ya quit? You’re  _the_ Cup brothers! You don’t just quit! What the hell are we supposed to do now?” Mugs chuckled. “Cup’s answer was the best. ‘How ‘bout gardening?’ Oh man.”

It made me smile and snort with a soft laugh.

“Hey, I know ya don’t like us and don’t trust us and all.” Mugs sighed, the smile slipping away. “And I have no right to ask this, but could you keep this a secret? Or at least don’t tell Bendy, Boris or Felix?” Mugs tapped his pointer fingers together.  

That raised my hackles a little, putting suspicion back where it had just barely started to ebb. I frowned. “Why? If you’re just cutting ties, why should it matter?”

“Because they worry too much?” Mugs winced. “And we don’t want them trying to mess around with this stuff. It ain’t easy trying to pull out, and even though Cup takes it as a game, things are gonna be dangerous for the two of us for a while. We don’t want them tangled up in it. They have enough to deal with right now.” Mugs’ frown deepened. I looked down, frowning as well. I thought about Alice, how I wanted to ask Bendy for help getting her out of that place. Another burden. “Though we already got you shot at because of us,” he muttered more to himself.

I looked up and raised a brow. “Whether I trust you or not, I take responsibility for my actions. I stuck my own nose in your business, so if anyone got me ‘shot at,’ it was myself,” I said firmly. I looked down, shaking my head, a queasy frown on my face. “Considering how many times I’ve watched the mob, I’m surprised it hasn’t happen before,” I muttered.

Mugs blinked. He blinked again. “You did--”

Suddenly, Cup popped up on his side. “Hey! What are you two standing around for?” His hair was disheveled. There were a couple of new holes in his jacket.

“Just talkin’ about last night,” Mugs said. “Apologizing for the gun show.” He shrugged.

Cup sighed. “Well, knock it off. We need to hit the hay.” That was probably about the fifth time he’d said that. They must be exhausted. I narrowed my eyes at him, but there was no real thought or passion behind it. He was right. It was time to sleep. I glanced between Granny’s house and the long, cold sidewalk that led to a bus stop where I might have to wait up to half an hour for a bus.

And I had work in about two hours.

Applesauce. I just didn’t care anymore. These two didn’t seem like an immediate threat, so I was going to spend the next hour and a half on Oddswell’s couch.

“Have fun climbing in through a window,” I threw at the two of them, though mostly at the cranky one. I headed for the front door. I didn’t really have any proof of anything...so I guess I wouldn’t say anything until I did.

It was only when I reached the front door that I realized I had no key. Well...it was four in the morning...five?

“Yeah, no. Thanks,” Cup said behind me.

“Well, that might be the only option unless Bendy happened to have given either of you a key last night.” I had the sudden impulse to pound my head against the wood.

He sighed. “Move.” I blinked as he scooted in front of me and pulled out a pair of lock picks. I  _almost_ said, ‘Can you teach me how to do that?’ but I managed to stop myself in time. Somehow, the thought of asking a favor from a guy who’d just left me in a tree for the last five hours seemed like a bad idea.

Sooner rather than later, the lock clicked and he stood. “Now, we can go to bed.” The two of them walked inside. Feeling a little odd in spite of myself, I walked inside with them. I’d followed them out...and walked back in with them? This was weirder than watching Fairfax try to flirt with a pixie who was obviously pickpocketing him. There’s a reason I never wrote about that incident.

The next moment Snowball was at eye-level as the older one offered her to me. “...Thanks.” I wanted no more of this night, so I grabbed Snowball and wandered into the living room where there were two beautiful perfectly empty couches. That’s when I heard a creak and the sound of the front door opening and closing again.

My inner snoop awakened.

But, I wanted to sleep! I grabbed a couch cushion, set it on the floor and put Snowball on top, sitting on the couch myself. Should I? I’d already made a complete fool of myself once tonight...That was when I heard the sound of a second pair of feet go down the stairs. The front door opened and shut again. I practically groaned. I couldn’t help it. Not to mention, hadn’t they just said they wanted to sleep?

I pulled my bracelet out of my coat pocket and put it on. As soon as the rune was activated, I crept towards the front hall and up to a window next to the door. Peeking out, I saw them both standing outside the front door.

Okay?

Gripping the sill tightly, I edged it open to listen. “...stuck a chair under the door.”

The cup made a scoffing noise. “So, you’ll have to go in through the window anyway.”

I nearly laughed, it surprised me. But then, I felt bad. The other one...Mugman? He had actually been pretty decent. I hoped it wouldn’t be too hard to climb back into that window.

“And I told her we were trying to pull out of the mob world.” Mugman’s words wiped the smile off my face.

The cup tilted his head a bit. “Yeah?” he replied carelessly.

“Just wanted you to know,” he continued in a business-like tone. I slid down to the floor, next to the window. So. It had been a lie.

Yeah. Of course. I’d thought it had been a lie…

But, I’d thought...maybe it hadn’t been.

I was far too trusting.

“Think she’ll tattle on us?” his brother asked. That question worried me a little, but I was only half listening because I was slightly depressed. Bendy cared about these two  _so_ much. I couldn’t  _not_ be suspicious. But after what Bendy had said when he brought them in last night, I found it hard to share my suspicions with them. It was sort of the reason I’d followed them by myself instead of telling the others about the meeting I’d heard about from Robert. It worried me. A lot. These two were dangerous, and the signals I was getting at this point were not good ones.

“Dunno,” Mugman answered. “But I think we saved her life tonight.”

The cup coughed a little, choking on his cigarette. “That’s usually how it goes when you get someone away from bullets,” he said ruefully. Yeah, one-eye, I wouldn’t have been near any bullets if you two had just left me to my humiliation. I would have gotten down...Eventually.

“No.” I turned back toward the window a little. Mugman was leaning against the corner of the building. “She admitted that she had been spying on the mob.” Something, I realized at that moment, I probably shouldn’t have said to someone I knew had been working with them. Dumb dora, Holly. Dumb dora. “She might have been the one to call in the Sykes.”

I blinked. Wait. What? He didn’t mean when I’d called the police on Robert at-- “Why? What makes you think she has any tie to that casino?”

Yes. Yes, he did mean when I'd called the police. Mugman shrugged. What did Mugman mean by saying they had saved my life though? “Dunno, it’s just a thought. Probably should keep an eye on her.”

I slid back down to the floor next to the window.

Horsefeathers.

“Yeah.” His brother sounded distracted. “And Mugs...Good job tonight.”

I sat there in silence for a couple minutes, thinking about how much I had managed to mess things up tonight. It was epic. Honestly, I should be in a ditch somewhere. That was what confused me the most. Despite the ninety levels of soreness I was feeling right now, it was obvious that the sharp one had gone ridiculously easy on me. Why? Probably to keep up appearances? I didn’t know.  

I turned back to the window and blinked. The cup man was sitting on the step, his head in his hands. He looked really...troubled. I watched him for a minute more, but nothing else happened. It seemed...wrong to intrude on what looked like such a personal moment, so I snuck back to the living room and passed out.

It lasted for all of an hour.

Of course Boris, Oddswell,  _and_ Granny are all early risers. Boris discovered me on the couch and gave me an odd look. I blinked my eyes open and shot up like I’d been zapped.

“Hey Holly,” Boris said, head tilted. I felt like groaning, but instead I pasted on a smile.

“Hello, Boris. How was your night?” Mine was Oak-Kay. Ha...ha...ha…

“Good…” he said slowly. “Why do you have leaves in your hair?”

I blinked, fully awake now. My entire face went red. I looked around for an excuse. “...Snowball got caught in a tree…” Not entirely a lie. I just neglected to mention she got caught in a tree I was hanging from.

Why not tell him? I think it goes back to what I wrote a minute ago. Bendy, Boris and Felix are one-hundred percent for trusting these two. Argh. And this is what I do when I don’t think someone will believe me. I keep things to myself until I can prove it without question. But with this...with this...I don’t think this will go down well, even if I find damning evidence. I almost feel guilty for finding things to be suspicious about.

But what else can I do?

I can’t ignore this!

In the end, I was recruited by Granny to help make breakfast when she saw me there. Since I barely had the time, and Betty’s was just a walk down the street, I agreed.

So, I cooked and ate quickly, heading immediately to Betty’s store.

Betty took one look at me and told me to go home and get some sleep. Apparently even after a thorough search, I still had a few leaves in my hair.

So, in the end, I went back to Granny’s. It’s not that I didn’t want to go back to my apartment. It’s more like I was too wound up by this point to sleep, despite my exhaustion. I was awake for the day, good or bad. And there was more than one thing of importance that needed to happen.

By the time I got to the house again, a few more people were milling about. The older cup man among them. What had he gotten? Two hours more of sleep? I had to give him credit for that.

Well...until Snowball launched herself and joined him again.

Was I getting lonely? Snowball...

In the end, I sat at the other end of the table and set my head down, dozing while most everyone else ate. I didn’t care if it was strange.

“Bendy, I know this isn’t a good time, but we are heading out to find a new apartment, and I wish to ask, what did you mean the other day when you said we wouldn’t accept you as a demon?”

The words made me blink, and I sat up quickly.

It was like the room had suddenly turned into a war zone. Everyone had gone quiet, even the Warners. You have to be pretty awkward to get Yakko to shut his trap.

“Oh…” Bendy, comically, had a fork halfway to his mouth in that moment. He set it down.

“I’m sorry, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t wish to, but it was a statement I found didn’t sit well with me yesterday.” After last night, I’d completely forgotten about what Bendy had said until now. It had shocked me as well. I’d never held Bendy’s being a demon against him, and it confused me right up a tree--Wrong metaphor. Wrong metaphor!

Bendy looked a bit miffed. “Well...it’s a bit hard to explain.”

His brother was suddenly next to him, and I blinked at he raised his voice. “It wasn’t a bad thing! He was protecting us.” Uh...Okay?

Before anyone had a chance to react to that, Felix threw in his two cents. “He’s right. No matter what you think, Bendy helped.”

No matter what we think? Well, what exactly are we thinking right now? I’m thinking that a time stopping rune would be really convenient at this moment. I’m also thinking that if I could eat breakfast on about a foot of cushioning with a flannel blanket, I’d already have been asleep right now. Then, maybe I could explain away the last eight hours as a strange dream.

“Woah, woah.” Finley’s voice interrupted my thoughts, much to my gratitude. I was glad someone was saying  _something_. “Hold the phone there. I don’t think anyone here is questionin’ Bendy’s character. Everyone here knows he’s a standup pain in the tail.”

That made me smile.

“Hey.” Bendy frowned, but he didn’t really look that offended.

“So, what’s all this defensiveness about?” Finley continued. “Why’d we suddenly turn our back on a guy like you, Bendy? We come off as shallow or somethin’?”

Good question. That’s how I was starting to feel after last night’s stand-off. “What? No Fin! Hell no!” Bendy shook his head. “It's just that something happened when we were gettin’ the gear.”

“Not like that was terrifyin’ or anythin’,” the cup muttered. Snowball leaned over the rim of his head and patted the side of it. Was I seriously sitting here watching my  _pet_ comfort the same guy I’d watched blow up a car two hours ago? What had this world come to? His brother nudged his shoulder. “What? That sea monster was horrifying!”

“Guys.” Bendy's voice said that he wanted to get to the point. The room fell silent. “Okay, so while we were fighting the sea monster I, uh, had an Ink Attack.” Then, before I had the mental capability to finish processing that sentence he continued. “And I fought it using my talent.”

I stared at Bendy in exasperation.

Really?

“You what?” Oddswell's voice rose ever so slightly. “Bendy I thought I told you--”

“I know! I know doc, but everyone was fighting for their lives! I couldn’t do nothing!” I stared at Bendy, watching the tension ripple across his shoulders as he met Dr. Oddswell’s concern with a stubborn glare. It suddenly occurred to me that we were all still stuck in the moment that had started when they’d walked in the door last night. Bendy and the others were defensive, and everyone who’d stayed home were all upset.

It probably wouldn’t stop until  _something_ changed.

I looked down, slowly shaking my head as I thought once again about what I’d seen and heard last night. Another pang of worry ran through me.

“...I used my powers and blacked out.” I looked up suddenly.

“Oh no, so you passed out in the fight?” Sammy...well, looked like himself. Worried.

“No, he changed,” Killer Cup replied. Into what?

“He what?” Yakko asked.

“Weird time for a costume change isn’t it?” Wakko continued. 

“No way! That’s how anime girls do it all the time!” Dot finished.

Ani-what?

“Ani-what?” Mugman said.

“Guys!” Once again, Bendy wrestled back control of the conversation.

“Sorry.” Mugman smiled, looking apologetic.

Well, I wasn’t. I know they’re zanys, but I swear, there’s this look in their eyes sometimes that says they aren’t making stuff up. Then again, most of the time they do.  

“What do you mean by change?” Xedo inquired, tilting his head.

“The pipsqueak--”

“Stop calling me that!” Bendy interrupted, glaring at the cup man.

He only smirked and continued. “Was suddenly seven feet tall with giant claws, sharp fangs, and red and black eyes that could scare a nightmare. He gave off a chill that winter would be jealous of.”

I blinked, trying to imagine it. How in the world? My head spun with the potential implications. What could have done that to him? Did ink illness somehow  _enhance_  his powers? I mean, ink is black, but I didn't think it was the same as shadows. And why terrifying? I nearly bumped myself in the head. Well, he was a demon, that's why! But...Bendy wasn't like that? Was this the reason Bendy was different from other demons? Had he just not gone through a phase they had yet? Was he going to turn into the same type of thing I'd read about in all of those ridiculous books. I couldn't imagine it. Bendy was a bit grumpy sometimes, but he had a good heart. He'd walked underneath those runes! I refused to believe that just because he was a demon that that condemned him to become something like Black Hat.

Boris finally sat down. “He was protecting us,” he repeated. I looked up and blinked.

The cup made a placating gesture. (Well, that’s a first.) “I’m not saying he wasn’t! He cussing saved my skin! I’m just saying it was pretty freaky looking at first.” My eyes widened and I smiled. So maybe it was just a change in appearance? Not soul deep? More powers? But again, where had it come from? Ink Illness had deteriorated people in the past. It seemed odd that it would make him stronger. But then, what other factors were there that could change him?

“So what? It was the Illness right?” Finley offered. Almost before the words were out of his mouth an idea sprung to my mind. The cog.

This morning after getting sent home by Betty, I’d sat down in a private area in the woods behind the house and finished the translation. (Now before you tell me that the page is important and I shouldn’t have done that in public, let me tell you I put on my ‘Fade’ bracelet and sat in a bush. I figured it wasn’t like I wouldn’t already have leaves in my hair.) The page had said that the cog had power to alter reality.

“I haven’t ever heard of the Ink Illness doing that to someone,” Dr. Oddswell concurred.

“Could it have been that cog? It did some freaky stuff to Cala and the spiders right?” Mugman said from behind his scarf. I blinked at him. Well, wasn’t he a quick cookie.

“Then, why didn’t it do anything to us?” Felix asked. I opened my mouth, the words, ‘Well the page translation did say that the cog changes a person’s physical body.’ But then I stopped, eyes drifting back to the two dish people.

The page was among the things that we all worried might be stolen. Suspicious as I was, I didn’t think I was comfortable mentioning it with them here.  

“Maybe it affected each of you in a different way?” I said weakly instead.

“I didn’t notice anything,” Felix said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

The cup man shook his head too. “Nope, nothing for me.”

“I didn’t feel anything.” Boris’ ears went down. I wasn’t that surprised. The translation had said it ‘could change the bodies of those exposed to it’. That didn’t mean that it would make everyone giant. In fact, it left a lot of wiggle room for things to happen.

“I...went numb,” Mugman suddenly said. I blinked...Like that. Wait. He’d been injured? But he’d been carrying me last night! You don’t do that when you’re injured, you big palooka!

“What?” Felix turned towards him.

“That’s when my chest went numb. I was touching the gear. I haven’t felt any pain since,” the mug man continued.  

His brother stared at him. “Are...you okay?” He’d better be!

“I think so.” He frowned, his fingers touched his shirt lightly. “Just a little numb.”

“Huh, interesting.” I turned slowly back towards the doctor. Oddswell had touched each of his fingers together slowly. I felt a chill run down my back. Um...

“Indeed.” Dr. Boo’s long beak turned towards Mugman as well. The guy shrunk like a week old flower under the scrutiny.

“So, what do we do?” His brother asked.

Bendy shrugged. “No clue man. Honestly, I thought it was a demon thing, but hey maybe it’s a gear thing. What do I know? I don’t remember anything.” Honestly, I was wondering if it was a combination of the two. Oh, heavens, I wanted to talk about the page!

Felix crossed his arms. “We’ll have to do research, see what the gear's effects really are and if there is a way to stop them.” That sounded  _fascinating_. I had some tests in mind that I thought could be quite interesting. It almost made me want to get up and go look at the cog now.

“I’m all for it, except let’s not make anyone a giant monster, deal?” Bendy added in only a half joking tone. With the level of warning that was given in the page, that might be the least troublesome outcome, honestly. The page had described it as ‘especially dangerous.’ That was after it had given a specified warnings for each of the other items.

“Can we trust that research to you, Mr. Cat?” Dr. Oddswell asked.

Felix sat up to attention “Absolutely!” he replied.

I started to speak, but Bendy jumped in quickly. “I’ll help too.” He eyed Felix with excitement.

“Actually Bendy, I have a different favor to ask of you,” Dr. Oddswell said in a calm tone that made the room seemed to go down in temperature. His tongue flicked out. That was a bad sign.

Half turning, I spoke to the cat adventurer. “If you wouldn’t mind, Mr. Felix. I’d like to help with researching the cog as well.” It would be pretty amazing if I got to work with him.

“I’m sorry, Miss May, but I will be needing your services as well.” Oddswell’s words interrupted my thoughts. “And you Finley and Wakko, if you don’t mind.” What for? I blinked as Wakko echoed my thoughts. His mouth opened, and he swallowed his entire plate of food whole. I would have been surprised...if I hadn’t seen him swallow much more at the buffet while we were at the Black Hat.

“A little experiment.” Dr. Oddswell gave Bendy a half lidded look, continuing to tap his fingers. Heavens, something really terrifying must be on his mind for him to show this much. What was he thinking?

“Yeah? How long will this take?” Finley, the sweetheart, was oblivious to the danger Oddswell presented.

“Anywhere between half an hour to the rest of the day,” Oddswell said cooly.

“And what is this experiment?” Yakko perked up, hands pressed against the table. I leaned forward as well.

“Do we get to blow something up?” Wakko added, looking gleeful.

“I certainly hope not.” Oddswell chuckled. “At least not today.”  _At least not today?_ Okay, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve seen Oddswell blow something up...but.

“It’s about the pain medication. Miss May had some interesting theories. I need each of you to help, but it’s only if you wish,” Dr. Oddswell continued. I blinked. Oh. That’s what this was about? But...I had intended to wait to do those tests until someone had an attack. Would the runes even have any effect otherwise?

“If it helps, I’m fine for whatever,” Bendy answered easily.

“Sure, I could go for some mad sciencing,” Wakko said, shrugging. 

“Alright, I guess.” Finley agreed, glancing at the rest of us.

Oddswell immediately stood, smiling. “Excellent, when you are done here, meet me upstairs. I will have things ready for you.” The lizard was gone almost before I could blink. I’d never seen him move so fast. He must be  _very_ excited. Heavens help us. What had I started?

“Anyone else feel like they just agreed to be a dissected frog on a table?” Bendy brows were down as he spoke bluntly. What exactly did the wily lizard have in mind? Did he know something that Mr. Wiseton had told him? Why these three? And wait? Why Finley?

“Is that a promise?” Wakko challenged.

“If only you’re that lucky,” I said as I heard Wakko. Wait, that sounded really bad. These were my tests after all. “Not that I would let the professor try any of my more dangerous theories.” I blinked and looked at Finley again. But the tests were meant for those with the illness. Could he be a control? A normal subject to compare against the others? “I wonder why he asked you to help.” I really hoped that the other option in my head wasn't right.

People started to shuffle around. As people talked, I considered taking another brief nap in the living room. However, when I got there, Felix and the two cup assassins were there talking. A little ways from them were Sam and Finley. Felix patted Sammy on the shoulder, smiling.

As I entered the room, Felix looked up. “Ah, Holly. The professor told me you’ve already looked into the parts. Could you tell me what things you’ve already researched?”

I blinked, smiling. “Sure. I should get my notes. Would you like to join me?”

“Sure.” Felix smiled and stood up. Killer Cup turned his eye to watch us go. I smiled at him with whatever fake politeness I could muster.

Haha. Notes. We went back into the mostly empty kitchen where I’d left my bag. Once we were at the back in the corner, I picked up my bag and started to rummage through it.

“So Mr. Felix,” I said as I pulled out my journal. “I don’t know if anyone told you, but the boys came in possession of a page from an old text detailing the ink machine. They asked me to translate it. I finished it early this morning, so I’d like to give you the translation, if that would help any.”

His eyes had literal stars in them. “A text on the Ink Machine? Fantastic! You’ve already translated it too! This will help us astronomically!”

I couldn’t help but smile, feeling a bit proud. “It was quite a fight to finish it. The research was fascinating.” Then, I paused. “However, I have a personal favor to ask.” He probably wouldn’t like this.  

The stars calmed down, but his smile remained. “Sure! What can I do for you Miss May, or do you prefer Holly?”

I grinned at him. “I would be delighted if you’d call me Holly.”

“Holly then,” he said brightly. “How can I help? You’ve already done so much here!”

I fingered the edges of the journal. “Last night I saw those cup brothers climb out of their window a couple hours past midnight.” He blinked, his smile dropping into confusion.

I frowned, looking down. “I mean no offense to any of you. I know that the three of you trust those brothers greatly, but I have many personal reasons to doubt them. That’s why I waited around last night to see if anything would happen.” I grimaced. “I...failed to keep up with them last night. But I do know when they came back, it was only hours before everyone woke up.”

I swallowed. “The page is precious. I’m still working on it, but I have a theory about some of the things it says. I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention it to them while you do this research, if only to calm my nerves about the matter.”

He looked over his shoulder, his brow knit together, and a frown marred his face. He looked worried, like they would be right behind him. That look made  _me_ nervous, and I self consciously I looked around the room and behind as well. He sighed and turned back to me. “I understand, and though I don’t like keeping secrets, I will if I must. Can I ask just one thing in return?”

I nodded, feeling a bit of relief. “Yes?”

“Give them a chance. They’re brash and not completely open with us. I think they try to hide a lot of their problems, but I truly believe they want to help us. Help  _them._ There is just some bond those two have with Bendy and Boris that’s...special. A trust I’ve only seen a few time.” Felix sighed and scratched the back of his head. “But I’m also the newest one here so..” He shrugged and smiled awkwardly.

I looked down. “I...I’ll try.” I sighed, a hand touching my hair. “I don’t know Mr. Felix. I thought about it last night, but then I caught Mugman in a lie.”

My face went red. “To be honest, they caught me following them. Mugman said they were cutting ties with the mob around here, but then later I overheard him ‘updating’ his brother. So, he would know the story. I just...” A quiet snort of frustration escaped my lips and my face reddened even more. I was making a fool of myself in front of someone I admired. “I’m a direct person, Mr. Felix. Lies to or from me have never set well.” But then again, there was the kindness Mugman had extended me.

Felix crossed his arms, his eyes went half mast with the thoughts going through his head. “Do you have any idea why they were out? Did you overhear something?”  

I looked up and nodded slowly. “Not much. They were looking for a place to do something.” I touched my chin. “At first they were going to go to some bar, but then Ki--Cuphead said that any alley would do. They seemed...rushed.” I unfolded my arms and looked at Felix. “The whole reason I was following them in the first place was because I’d overhead Robert Sykes saying he was going to meet with them, so I figured that meeting had to take place sometime soon. Honestly, it sounded like they were preparing to meet someone. But it doesn’t make sense that ‘any alley would do.’” I frowned.

Felix sighed. “Oh dear, this sounds quite serious. The Sykes? And an alley?” His ears fell. He hummed. “Maybe we should ask them,” he muttered, looking at the floor.

My stomach dropped to the floor. “I don’t know if that’s the best--” Just then, I saw Sammy and the two brothers round the corner. My mouth snapped shut like a clam. I handed the completed translation into Felix’s hand, along with a copy of my notes. “Here is all my research. I’ve looked at most books in the west wing of the Yen Sid library,” I finished with a sigh.

Felix smiled. “Thank you.” But his eyes were sad. Curse those cat eyes. It sent a stab of guilt through me!

“So, we going or what?” Killer Cup grumbled.

“Absolutely! Daylight is a wasting! Let’s go!” Felix turned on his heels and led the others away. Cup paused and turned back around, his hands in his pockets. I tensed. His face was a blank mask when suddenly he was as close as Felix had been. I let out a quiet gasp, backing away.

He smirked. “So you  _are_ a squealer.” He said it like he had just confirmed it as a fact. It’s not like I’d told Bendy or Boris! Wasn’t that supposed to be the part that bothered you two? Keep your stories straight!

I tried to keep my expression blank as well, but failed as I felt my mouth twitch. I blinked about three times. I tried to think of something to say and failed at that as well. I’m really such a terrible liar, and what was I supposed to say, ‘You terrify me?’

He chuckled like he'd heard me. “My brother and I will have to keep a close eye on you. He told me you have a bad habit of spying. That’s a dangerous hobby, little lady.” Me and my big mouth.

This time I managed to choke out a few words. “Only if I get caught.” I gave him a shaky smile. “Isn’t that what you said last night?” I believe at this point my knees were knocking together a little.

Cuphead’s one eye widened, and he suddenly burst into laughter. “I did say that,” he said after he calmed down. He smiled. “And usually I’d say go for it, but seriously, you should stop.” He said it so matter of fact that I blinked and relaxed a little. “You can hate us and not trust us. That’s fine. But for your sake. It really is dangerous and those palookas won’t just leave ya ‘hanging around’ like Mugs and I did.” I scowled and Cuphead shrugged. “I ain’t your mom or nothin,’ but the people here seem to care. It’d be a shame for something bad to happen.” He turned to walk away. “Just food for thought,” he said over his shoulder with a wave. He didn’t even give me a chance to respond. Not that I had anything in mind at that moment.

Once again, one of these brothers had surprised me.

People continued to move about the house, preparing for their individual missions today. I sat on the couch and actually thought about the cup’s words.

Honestly, what he said is one-hundred-percent true. I know doing this stuff is dangerous. There was that one time I messed up and the people in the warehouse nearly saw me. Then there was that other time when Fairfax got suspicious of me and I had to go homeless to shake him. And then there was the night before last. In that demon’s casino. In that mad lab. I hadn’t come close to being caught, but if I had, I had no doubt that the results probably would have been...bad. Black Hat scared me.

But then again, what  _was_ I supposed to do? Just sit around and wait for bad things to happen? What about Alice? Was I just supposed to sit around as I watched her ruin her own soul by pushing herself to a length that could  _destroy_ her? Just thinking about it made me nervous. It made me want to rush back to the casino. But what could I do? My only idea involved Bendy, and I wasn’t sure I had the right to give Alice’s secret away, even under such dire circumstances.

If I hadn’t spied on Robert Sykes, Ringtail and Featherworth would be dead right now. And when I had started to watch Fairfax it had been because I was worried about the Professor. My conscience couldn’t take anything happening to him while I had  _known_.

I gave a short laugh. I suppose the stalking habit  _had_ spun out of control from that point on.

My thoughts were cut short at that point as the doctor started to gather me, Bendy, Wakko and Finley. We all went upstairs.

It quickly became apparent that my worries about Finley were true. He had the illness as well. But it also become clear just as quickly that Finley refused to be put down about it. Sammy didn’t know. That made my heart ache for him. He was a solid fellow. Just how many lives were this sickness going to harm before we found a way to stop it? Finley was the last person I wanted to see with Ink Illness. I’d started to admire him. The straightforward and honest manner in which he’d handled the situation this morning had impressed me greatly.

Then, Dr. Oddswell started to explain the situation. “He is in the first stage,” he said nodding towards Finley. “Wakko in the second and Bendy…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get the picture,” Bendy interrupted. “And this junk is going to help.” His lips were pressed together, and I could read tension in every inch of his body. Oh, he didn’t like talking about this topic at all.

“There is a risk. We don’t know what side effects there are,” Oddswell continued to talk as if that’s what he’d been about the finish saying anyways.

I felt compelled to give the warning I gave to anyone dealing with runes. “Runes are known to be touchy. I tested on the ink from Wakko’s attack, but that doesn’t guarantee they will have the same effects on you three.” And that wasn’t even because those tests were on ink and these were on living beings.

“So pain, third arms, a chance to turn inside out,” Wakko said sarcastically, finishing off a bit of chip and cheese. “Sounds swell.” Was it sad that his sarcasm was so spot on? Stranger things had happened.

“Most likely not something so dramatic,” Oddswell reassured. “But yes. We aren’t sure what’s going to happen.” 

I almost laughed then, thinking back on the cup man’s words. I’d say what I’d done with those runes had been far more dangerous than what I’d been doing following the mob. Even if it had been in a different way.

“There is also one other risk I should warn you about,” Dr. Oddswell continued. I looked up. “These experiments could trigger an attack.” The room went silent and wide expressions went all around. I stared at Oddswell. What? Why did he think that?

“Each of you has your own patterns when it comes to the illness. Finley, your attacks take place once every three weeks roughly; Wakko, once every other; and you, Bendy, every other day. Each of you are on the cusp of another attack. The shock of these treatments, especially the stronger ones, could very well start an attack.” Slow understanding dawned on me. It was the strain of the spell. Even though I would be the one activating the spell, runes affected the soul. Once again, it was a simple concept that I hadn’t grasped with my home taught knowledge about runes. “This illness isn’t normal. I don’t have to explain it to you. You all know that the ink responds to you and situations oddly.”

Once again, Bendy was the first to respond. He lifted his chin, eyes glinting like this was a challenge. “Then let’s do this.”

“Wait a second there pal,” Fin cut in. “You’re the worst off here! Aren’t there only three stages! If you have an attack you could--”

“I won’t Finley,” Bendy snapped at him. “I have too much to do,” he growled. “Let’s just get started. I’m still willing.” I blinked at him. I glanced at Oddswell. I mean, I understood why he’d asked each of them. They were at a different points in the illness, but…

Finley scowled, looking down. “Fine.”

“Bendy.” I was next to him before I really realized what I’d done. “You know, you don’t need to take the risk. We have Finley and Wakko. Do you think it’s wise to push yourself like this after what happened with the cog?” Did we really need to see how these spells affected the third stage? I didn’t like this.

Bendy blinked and looked at me, then at his brother. He looked away. “But, I’m not the only one sitting in stage three, am I?” he asked quietly.

“No, you are not.” Oddswell’s answer was direct as usual.

“I appreciate your concern,” Bendy said slowly. “But Dr. Oddswell asked me for a reason. Things might be different between the stages, and I’m probably the toughest person he’s got. If I can give the others more time or even just a little comfort, it’s worth the risk.”

He was willing to risk himself to help other people. Wasn’t that the reason I’d just given for doing what I’d done, despite my mistakes? (Even though the way I helped others probably could be handled better…)

Bendy didn’t even need to do this, but he wanted to. I respected him for that. A lot. I didn’t know him and Boris quite as well as I wished yet, but this put a firmness in my heart that gave me comfort. This demon would hold on. And I would do the best I could to help him.

I nodded and moved away, writing out the symbols to the five most promising runes I’d tested. Bendy and Boris spoke quietly. A moment later, Oddswell joined me as I finished. “Miss May, let us start with the Joy rune.”

I nodded, taking the right strip of cloth. Carefully, I tied one around the wrist of each of the boys. Then, I stepped back. I took in a deep breath and smiled my brightest. I clasped my hands together, hard. “As we’ve said before, we’re not entirely sure what’s going to happen. So, please lay back and try to relax as much as possible.” We didn’t want anyone falling off a bed.

“Alright sweetie.” Fin gave me a reassuring smile and laid back. Bendy smirked as well, complying. Of course, Wakko had to make things interesting at least once.

“Do I get a kiss after, nurse?” he winked, that childish grin on his face.

I considered and then shrugged. If it made him feel better about going through all of this, why not? “Sure, if you want, Wakko.”

“What!” Finley's surprise almost made me laugh.

Bendy, however, did snicker. “Now hold on, I already asked her on a date, Wakko.” Oh...I’d forgotten about that. I had been supposed to pick a place...I’d have to think about that.

“Double what!” Finley barked again. “Gee! You fellas don’t hold back! I’m missin’ out here!”

That made me snort and shake my head.  

“Activate the runes, Miss May,” Dr. Oddswell cut in. Ah, wasn’t it nice to have Oddswell to keep everyone on track?

I activated the runes.

And something very strange happened.

Light burst from each of the symbols like a beacon, causing most everyone in the room to cover their eyes. I blinked, taking a step back. I withdrew enough of my energy that the light dimmed a little, allowing Oddswell to move closer and speak to each of them. That had been  _far_  more energy than I'd intended to put in the spell! It took a moment for me recover from my shock, but I turned to listen to what the three of them had felt.

Their results were basically the same, a bit of warmth for Wakko and Finley and nothing for Bendy.

I sighed. I’d had great hopes for the Joy rune, but it seemed almost null in it’s effect. Had I researched an entirely wrong line of runes?

I deactivated them. Curiously, Oddswell asked that they keep the Joy bracelet on. It was almost like he thought they would get an attack, and he wanted to be ready to test it then. Oddswell…

We moved onto the Sun rune. I explained the purpose of ‘Sun.' “Sun was originally meant to harness the strength and energy that the sun gives living things.” I tapped the symbol. “That’s why it was created to look a bit like the sun.”

“The only sunshine I see is standing right next to me.” Bendy grinned. I blinked at him.

Finley snorted. “That was horrible.”

“You do better.” Bendy bobbed his eyebrows at Finley.

Unsure if that was meant as a joke and whether I should respond, I did. “That was very sweet, Bendy, thank you.” I smiled…awkwardly.

“Your smile is the light of my day. The warmth of my heart and the strength of my soul,” Finley started, hand over his heart. Then he swung it out as he really got into the words. “Without you I am in a pit of darkness. Your coming and going brings my light near and far--”

“Alright, thank you Shakespeare.” Bendy cut him off, laughing.

Finley shrugged, grinning back. “What? I’m a man of the theater. I have class.”

“I think you were putting it on a bit thick,” Bendy countered.

Unsure of what was going on, I tried to get things moving. “I’m glad you both have a sense of humor,” I said. “But if we could get back to the present?” I tilted my head at them.  

“Oh wait, I have one,” Wakko interrupted.

“Love is not love  
Which alters when it alteration finds,   
Or bends with the remover to remove:   
O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,   
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;   
It is the star to every wandering bark,   
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.”

Leave it to Wakko Warner to have one of Shakespeare’s sonnets memorized and on hand for quoting. I pointed at Wakko. “That one wins.”

“What the hell man?” Bendy complained.

“What? I thought we were quotin’ Shakespeare.” Wakko shrugged, a glitter of mischief behind his nonchalant motion. His tongue was still sticking out of his mouth.

Just then, Bendy picked up on the height reference in the poem and a slight chaos broke out. I laughed. It seemed...that this was their way of relaxing. I had to say, I liked it.

Oddswell called for the next rune. Curious, I took a moment to think before I did it. I had been able to put much more energy than I needed into the last one without even thinking about it. Could I do that again? Put even more? I tried.

The bracelets lit up again, the light even more intense to the point that everyone had to close their eyes entirely. I dimmed it quickly a moment later, but a shaky feeling of confusion had entered me. Why? And now that I realized it, I had activated three runes simultaneously--twice in a row. I should be feeling the strain of holding three spells at once, no matter how simple a rune it was. But I felt fine. I almost couldn’t even feel the strain of the magic.

This time, they all felt hot as the rune affected them. Honestly, they pretty much all showed symptoms similar to heat stroke, so after a moment of Oddswell taking notes on their answers, I stopped the rune.

I still didn’t feel tired at all.

“Interesting findings,” Oddswell muttered. I looked at him sideways. No kidding. “We’ll try the Need rune next. Hopefully, it will focus on the Illness and not on any of their desires for other things. Having a mountain of money or food appear suddenly could be a mess.” The lizard gave a little quirk of his mouth.

I shook my head. “It’s not like it would stay. Need only gives the illusion of what the possessor’s greatest necessity is.” ...Or it should. I couldn’t help but think of how that ink had just disappeared. But this should affect just them...right? Their needs should be different than an inanimate bit of liquid.

He nodded, looking at me. “How are you holding up?”

I answered honestly. “I’ve plenty of energy left. I’ll let you know when I start getting tired.” Because I wondering when that would happen.

“Need?” Wakko perked up a moment later. “I have a need.”

Bendy snorted, finishing Wakko’s thought before he could. “Food.”

Wakko grinned, bobbing his brows at Bendy. “How’d you know?”

Finley laughed.

“I believe that’s what’s called a want at this point, Wakko.” I smiled at him. This one was ready to go right back to the buffet at Black Hat’s.

“Alright then, how about a girlfriend?” Finley grinned.

“Oh, I definitely need a girlfriend,” Bendy said.

“No way, what you need is a starfallen vacation,” Finley said. “And a massage.”

The conversation continued like this until Dr. Oddswell pulled us back to focus once more.

This time, I focused on keeping the amount of energy I fed to the runes low, just enough to give the spell what it needed. It was a good thing too.

My concentration was almost immediately interrupted by a shriek of pain from Wakko of all people. The other two writhed violently in their beds. I was so surprised and horrified at the sound that I immediately let go of the casting, cutting off the magic from the rune abruptly.

Boris rushed over to his brother. “Bendy! Bendy!”

“I’m okay,” Bendy said, his voice rough.

“Ah cuss!” I turned and froze as I saw the fox leaned over,  _black_ dripping out of his mouth as he heaved a second time. Oddswell immediately gave him a towel. Little streamlets fell from his eyes, leaving lines all over his face.

“Miss May.” Dr. Oddswell’s voice made me blink. “Activate the Joy rune for our subject here.”

Oh heavens! I’d just been staring. I quickly put a surge of energy into the rune.

Finley gasped, and I could see his shoulder blades move as he breathed hard. “That.” He swallowed. “That helps.” His throat sounded like sandpaper on gravel. I blinked, a deepset, sick feeling growing in my chest as I watched him.

I’d...never seen it so close up. I’d only really caught the end of Wakko’s attack last time.

Finley’s lips went back in a grimace. His teeth were black. “Cussing gross still.”

Oddswell put a consoling hand on Finley’s shoulder for a moment before going to his clipboard and methodically asking each of them what they’d experienced during the test.

Bendy’s description was the most creative. “Like a million tiny hooks trying to rip me apart.”

But why?

Need wasn’t even supposed to have real world effects. It was supposed to be illusion as most! Tears of frustration formed in my eyes as I watched the three of them try and recover. If only I could do something more to help.

But then again, this was the result of my trying to help, wasn’t it? I thought about what the rune had done to the droplet of ink.

Hooks tearing Bendy apart?

Like Finley’s chest was being torn out?

Like something was being taken?

Mentally, I closed a door on ‘Need.’ Whatever this need was, it was so strong that it pushed past ‘Need’s original, temporary effects. It was going somewhere...and taking whatever was in the way with it.

Boris brought Finley a glass of water, and Oddswell asked about how Joy had helped.

Finley sipped his water slowly. “Hard to say. It wasn’t like it made the pain any less just…” He frowned. “More bearable? I guess?”

That wasn’t exactly an encouraging answer. And definitely not what I’d had in mind to help when I’d decided to try it.

Dr. Oddswell scribbled at his paper furiously. The doctor had surprised me before with his positivity and wisdom when it came to this. I took a moment to steady myself. Even if Joy hadn’t been as effective as I’d hoped, at least it had helped. Small steps. Progress. That was all that mattered.

“What was that?” Bendy finally asked, looking at the ‘Need’ bracelet.

“Not sure.” Oddswell didn’t look up. I considering offering my theory, but it didn’t feel right without more conclusive evidence. Either way, we weren’t using that rune again.  

“Great.” Wakko looked shaky. “Are we done?” he said a little too casually.

“Not quite.” The professor finished writing, but continued to study his notes for a moment. “Miss May.”

I sighed. Only one left. “This next one is a combination of two runes. The first is called 'Day.' It connects with you personal timeline, if you will. The second is called 'Delay.' It’s a slowing rune. Essentially, combined with the first, it takes your personal timeline and lengthens out your time. In the past, when people have used this combination on themselves they’ve mentioned almost seeing an aura when something outside their timeline moved. Like a foreshadowing of the movement. So, don’t feel weird if you see something like that.” I frowned. The descriptions I’d read had been interesting to say the least. “Did that make sense?”

“Sorry, I was going over my will again. What did you say?” Wakko suddenly had a pen and paper in his hands. He looked up over a pair of glasses, his tongue still out.  

Bendy shushed him, and we kept going.

As I activated the rune, the three of them seemed to freeze. Oddswell started to move towards one of the beds. “What do you feel?” He tilted his head in peaked curiosity.

“I-fee-ly-cus-used.” The words came out of Finley’s both like bullets, and Oddswell and I stared for half a second.

“Uh, interesting. Can you elaborate?” Oddswell tried.

“I-feer-yuking-used?”

“Professor, can you understand what they’re saying?” The lizard flicked his tongue. Never a good sign with him.

“I’m not sure, Holly. I think we should deactivate for now.”

I nodded and pulled the power from the three spells.

Bendy sucked in a hard breath. “What just happened?” He gave both of us an incredulous look.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think I want to do it again,” Finley commented, hand on his forehead. “My head is spinning.”

“Reminds me of the fourth wall but with addition instead of multiplication.” Wakko shrugged.

My brows went up.  _Addition_ instead of  _multiplication?_   How fast did things go in his world?

“The what?” Dr. Oddswell said. I blinked.

Wakko smirked. “My talent before it stopped. It was kinda like that.”

“How did you ever get anything done?” Finley put a hand to his head. “I think I was on a spinning ride at an amusement park but the ride was my brain.”

To be honest, now I sort of want to try the rune myself.

“Practice buddy, worlds of practice.” Wakko grinned. I stared at Wakko. This brought up about thirty questions I wanted to ask Wakko right now. The good thing about that was that the Warners always answered questions. The bad thing about that was that their answers usually never made sense.

Bendy gave Wakko a chagrined look. “It’s one of the reasons your insane, isn’t it?”

“I’m insane?” Wakko eyes suddenly went as wide and innocent as a babe’s. He put a finger on his lip. Bendy rolled his eyes.  

“Wakko, since you have some experience, what do you think? Do you believe these runes could help with the Ink Illne--”

“Nope.” Wakko started to study his fingers.

“Mind explaining?” Oddswell asked.

A smile I can only describe as devilish appeared on Wakko’s face as he drew in a breath to speak. “In easy to understand terms.” Bendy’s words were like a sword slash.

Wakko wilted.

“Fine.” He gave Bendy a rueful look. “The only way messing with time would help is if ya reverse it. And let me tell you, that never goes over well. That whole ‘butterfly effect’ thingy happens and next thing ya know, you destroy the personal library of Yen--something-or-other and change history.”

The library of Yen? That sort of sounded like Yen Sid? But that couldn’t be right. I studied Wakko hard. “You say that as if it was from experience?”

Wakko tilted his head back at me in mirror. “Did I?”   
  
“Regardless, I think we have our results.” Oddswell gave a satisfied tap of his pen to the paper.

“Professor, there’s still one more we can try,” I said quickly. It hadn’t been among my favored tests because there had barely been a reaction at all. But, things could be very different between people and a bit of ink. We were looking for something to help them, after all. And none of the others had worked. I gave Oddswell a look, and he came over as I started to write out the symbol for this last idea.

“Oh yes,” he said quietly. He started to make a bracelet as well. “Very good, Miss May.”

“Is the end in sight at least?” Finley sounded tired.

“This is the last one with positive potential.” I turned and smiled. After this, they needed a good rest.

“We ain’t testing any of the negative ones, I hope.” He gave a little laugh.

Dr. Oddswell picked up one of his notes. “Not today.” Not funny professor. I know you think it is, but it’s  _not_.

I shook my head at him. “You don’t want to see what Chalice did,” I commented to Finley.

Unfortunately, this did the opposite of reassuring them. They now looked more uncomfortable than ever.

“This one is Courage,” Oddswell told them.

“Does Bendy really need anymore of that?” Finley raised a brow, joking around again.

“Me? It’s Wakko that doesn’t have any self preservation,” Bendy pointed out.

“Death really ain’t that bad of a guy,” Wakko pointed out. “He’s terrible at checkers though.”

Okay, I didn’t care if it didn’t make any sense. I wanted to ask! Maybe it would make sense eventually?

Instead, I smiled at Finley. “You’re right. You all are very brave souls already. However, the reason I chose to test this one was because of the root of this rune. An old meaning of courage is heart or spirit’s strength. This rune is designed to find the starring quality of the spirit and enhance it. In a sense, it helps you focus on your strengths rather than your fears or weaknesses.”

Bendy took on a thoughtful look and nodded. “That...might be a good one.” I blinked as Bendy focused on me. Did that mean...there was a lot of fear in him when he had an attack? Saying it like that made it sound so simple. But I doubted it was that easy to explain.

On Oddswell’s signal, I activated the rune.

Immediately, all three of them sat up straight. An intense, lively look entered all of their eyes. “Wowza!” Wakko said. “Can I get this in my morning coffee?”

“No kidding,” Finley added with an excited breath. “I feel like I could take on a bull and not break a sweat! This thing has some kick!”

I grinned. This. This is what I’d been hoping to do for them. This was much more useful than the bit of relief that Joy gave. This could help more. “I was hoping.”

I glanced at the professor. “This looks like it will be even more useful than Joy.”

“It appears so.” Oddswell almost looked smug. “Okay, deactivate it, Miss May.”

That’s when everything went wrong. As I pulled the magic, it was as if the very air shriveled, and all three of the boys hunched over gasping.

“Bendy?” Boris rushed to his brother’s side. “What happened?” I frowned, mouth hanging open slightly. No.

“That is one bad crash after the ride,” Bendy said through a hand over his face. “I’m exhausted.”

“Like I ran a marathon,” Finley added with effort. “What the hell? Can’t the rush just be that and go back to normal?” That was a good question. If courage brought out the strengths of a soul...It needed the energy.

“Guess it takes energy to make energy,” Wakko said just as I finished the thought myself.

Strangely, my thoughts went back to the strange amount of energy I’d used. Sixteen spells. In little over ten minutes. I wasn’t tired. And now that I really thought about it, I’d only slept two hours the night before last. Then, I’d spent last night in that tree. Even doing three spells should have my wishing for my bed. But I felt energized.

My mind cycled through the possibilities. Courage would be amazing! If only it didn't pull the energy from a person's soul. “If we could find another source to fuel it though…”

And what could have change me so that I had such a boost?

I'd touched the cog.

And the page had said it changed people physically.

Had it changed me?

“Starfallen cussing damnit!” I blinked, head whipping as I saw great gobs of blackness slide down Bendy’s face, arms, chest.

A shock ran through me like before, but this time I was ready.

“Holly! Activate the Joy rune! Don’t touch the Courage one,” Oddswell ordered as I sent a surge of energy into the rune.

Bendy shrieked, his body convulsed as long rivets of ink ran down his face and body. Boris ignored that and held Bendy up, keeping a trash can near. The ink stained Boris’ shirt and gloves. His face stayed set in a look of determination as he kept reassuring Bendy with steady words. Bendy switched between screaming in pain and throwing up more and more ink. Alarmingly, his horns began to lose shape, and the ink was so thick it covered his eyes completely. He would convulse and shiver, throwing droplets of ink around the bed.

Yeah, I  _thought_ I was ready.

With each shriek, I flinched. I couldn’t help but stare at Bendy, then at Boris. How was Boris so calm?

He hung onto his brother, keeping him upright and supported. He didn’t allow Bendy to thrash with any of his convulsions.

Finally, I just looked away, feeling like an intruder. Let’s be useful. Stop being a dumb dora. I moved to the sink and got a towel wet, bringing it to Boris.

Boris nodded a thanks to me and used it on Bendy’s face and chest. Oddswell hung close by with a needle and a grim look on his face.

Wakko and Finley sat frozen in their beds. Both pale. Both gazing with lost and scared expressions.

After what seemed like an eternity, Bendy’s screams quieted until he leaned limply against his brother.

Boris sighed and gave the doctor a weak smile. Oddswell sighed and put down the needle. He picked up his pen and wrote something on his clipboard.

“Is it over?” Wakko asked weakly.

“Yeah,” Boris answered quietly. “It’s done.” He continued wiping the ink away from his limp sibling.

“That was terrifying,” Finley gulped. He ripped his gaze away from the demon to Oddswell. “He’s going to be okay, right doc?”

“He will be,” Dr. Oddswell said, adjusting his glasses. “Simply give him time to recover.”

“How long has he been like this?” Dr. Oddswell asked.

“This is only the second time it’s been this bad,” Boris answered. I stared at Boris.  _Second_ time it was this bad? Just how was this demon still...Bendy?

Just then, Bendy’s eyes started to open, and he groaned. “Bendy,” Boris said.

Boris shifted so he could see Bendy’s face. Bendy reached up to his eyes. “One minute,” Boris said and used the towel to clean Bendy’s face off. It was the tenderest of motions. A moment later, Bendy’s eyes were visible. He gave a tired look around the room. “You all have the dumbest faces,” he chuckled. This demon frankly amazes me. A minute ago he’d been screaming. And now...stars above. I hoped to the skies that they got all the parts in time. This guy deserved to be cured. He was an example of strength.

“You jerk!” Boris laughed, looking like he might also have a bit of moisture in his eyes. “We were worried.”

“How are you feeling?” Dr. Oddswell asked like clockwork.

“Like I was hit by a truck,” Bendy croaked. “And then not allowed to sleep for two days.”

“I don’t think using the Courage rune is a good idea, Miss May. The side effects are very serious for the subjects. Exhaustion is a dangerous thing for them.” Oddswell wrote on his pad, not looking up. I snorted. That was self apparent, Professor. You couldn’t get me to cast ‘Courage’ on an ink illness victim if you paid me with a book from The Lost Library of the Seven Sands.

“No kidding! I couldn’t tell!” Finley barked out, his hands in the air. “I think I lost three years of my life to fear alone there, doc!”

“Your sarcasm is noted,” the lizard threw back sarcastically.

Bendy tried to sit up. Wakko, of all people, put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. “I could think clearer. I knew I could handle it. The attack didn’t just sweep me away like it usually does. I could actually think for once,” the demon continued.

Well...it was better than nothing. Oddswell nodded, looking at me. “I believe we are done for today.”

I nodded in agreement “The other runes I tested are far too dangerous to use on people.”

“So, that’s it?” Finley looked around for confirmation. “We’re done?”

“Yes, you can dress again,” Oddswell said. His tongue flicked out. With a sigh of relief, Finley started to dress. “Although.” Everyone in the room stiffened. “There is...one last experiment I have.”

If looks could kill...Finley might be guilty of lizardslaughter.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also! Ray posted this cute picture on Tumblr. Subtle_Shenanigans also posted an awesome picture of Xedo on Deviantart. I thought I would share.
> 
>   
> 
> [Click here to go to the Tumblr page!](https://ray-shidazu.tumblr.com/post/180531455364/so-i-have-been-following-this-story-on-ao3-an)
> 
> [Here's Xedo!](https://www.deviantart.com/sirriusthemoonblade/art/Huevember-Xedo-Tiptail-BABITIM-773119069)


	68. October 31, Monday (Part Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys! Mundo, mundo amount of junk is going to happen this week! I have a bucket and half of editing to do, but it will be worth it! Just giving a heads up that I'm going to post two more entries this week before we get another of Tap's chapters. *Wink* Stuff happens while Bendy, Cup and Felix are unconscious, and you'll want to know about it. 
> 
> On a more personal note, I have a couch!! I moved into my apartment roughly a month ago, and I now finally, officially, have a couch. No more lying on the floor for me! I'm just very happy. XD

“I know young man, but this will most likely help you recover,” Dr. Oddswell added, lifting a thin beaker that held a clear liquid that I _most definitely_ recognized. Ryan Oddswell! I gave that to you to make sure they weren’t poisoning Alice! Not so you could experiment more on people!!

“What is it?” Bendy did not look like he was a fan of the idea.

“Yes, professor, what is it?” I said, trying to put ice into my voice and make obvious to him that I was _not_ in support of this idea.

The lizard blinked...and completely missed my point. “Why Miss May, you should recognize it. It’s the sample you brought me. Yes, I have been looking it over and the compound is excellent. This should help rejuvenate anyone after something like rune-work or exhaustion.”

I came _this_ close to smacking myself in the face. Instead, I just covered my face, trying to hide my scowl. “But the person I saw use that wasn’t a regular toon, professor. I told you that. We don’t know what exactly that is, whether it’s specific to them. That’s why I asked you to look at it.” Alice was an angel, for Yen Sid’s sake! Who knew how what might work for her would affect everyone else.

He tilted his head, as if he were confused at why I was so upset. “And I did Miss May. It’s exciting to test it. This should help our subjects recover from their exhaustion much faster.” His tongue flicked out as he spoke. Twice.

I suppose...that meant he really excited about it.

“Look doc, if it’s anything like the Courage rune, I’m good.” Finley shook his head, walking towards the door to prove his point.

“No, no.” The doctor’s tongue flicked out two more times. “This is a chemical compound made purely with science. You’ll be fine--” Mind if I interrupt here? Am I the only one who remembers Oddswell saying this _exact_ same thing back when we tested a skin rejuvenation formula during the class? And the month long rashes that ensued afterwards? No? You weren’t there? You didn’t get the rash? Well...lucky you. “--as long as you aren’t allergic, and you haven’t admitted to any allergy.”

Before I had a chance to point this out, Wakko practically snatched the vial out of Oddswell’s fingers. “Sure, why not?” Much to my horror, Wakko took this entire thing in one swig. “Ah! Oh, sweet! I like that.” He licked his lips. “Can I have another?” I blinked. Sweet?  

Oddswell gave him a cement look. “No. These are for testing only, not casual drinking.”

Wakko frowned, giving him the same look he’d given me when he’d been asking to go to Black Hat’s buffet. “How do you feel?” Dr. Oddswell ignored the expression.

Apparently, finished. “Like my old self,” he threw over his shoulder just before exiting the door.

“Well, if anything happens, he’ll come back,” the professor finally said. Probably pouting on the inside because Wakko hadn’t let him ask any questions before disappearing.  

I went to the door and watched Wakko disappear down the stairs with a skip. “You forget he’s a Warner. He could come back just to mess with everyone.” Or he could stay down there to mess with us, whichever sounded like the most fun to him.

There was a sigh behind me. “Fine. This is my last sacrifice for science...at least for today.” The small fox took the next beaker a little slower than Wakko. I still didn’t like it, but Wakko had seemed fine... “Oh wow. Okay.” His expression softened, and he nodded. “Not bad.”

“What do you feel?” Dr. Oddswell inquired.

“Energized. Not like that spell, just like I had some good sleep.” Finley shrugged and gave Bendy a thumbs up. “This one has my approval,” he said with a smile. He picked up the last beaker. “Hey pal, you should try this. I bet it would help.”

Bendy shrugged and took it. “Sure.” He drank it slowly. When he finished, he frowned. “Uh, weird taste,” he said.

“Nice right?” Finley nodded happily. “It’s a bit of a rush but not a crazy one.”

Bendy seemed to be about to say something, but then he blinked. “Oh c’mon,” he groaned. The beaker dropped, shattering across the floor as Bendy curled up in pain.

“Bendy!” Boris was there in half a second.

“Bendy? What’s happening?” Dr. Oddswell hovered over the demon, looking confused. Wait. Demon. Flying horsefeathers! I should have realized!

“Oddswell.” I grabbed his shoulder. We didn’t have time to be confused here! “Get something to get that out of his system!”

The doctor blinked, and he kicked into action, disappearing out the door in a flash. When he came back, he had another beaker with a milky colored liquid. “Drink this Bendy.” The doctor offered it, and Boris helped him drink it.

“Holly, get that trash can,” Oddswell ordered, and I grabbed it from where it had been left by Bendy’s bed before. Bile, blackness and Bendy’s breakfast ejected from his mouth.

When he finally finished, he took a long moment just to sit there and breathe. “Wh-what the cu-cuss was in that?” he said, barely audible in his weariness. Boris put his arms around his brothers, and they both looked at Oddswell.

“Can he have some water?” Boris asked.

Oddswell moved to get the water, talking. “I’m sorry Bendy,” Oddswell said. “It was my miscalculation. I didn’t consider you being a demon as a factor.” I snorted, frustration filling me.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Finley’s eyes were wide and horrified. “Di-did it almost poison him? Did I almost poison him!”

“The responsibility is mine.” Oddswell brought the water to Bendy. “One of the ingredients is the extract of a rare flower. The White Egret Flower. It has a purifying and rejuvenating factor.” I blinked. The White Egret Flower? What was that?

“So?” Finley looked angry now. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“It’s a plant that comes from the Upper and is a remedy from angels. Apparently poison to demons.” The doctor eyed Bendy regretfully. I frowned.

“Well, that’s really swell there doc,” Finley said, his eyes wide and tail straight up on end. Honestly, I couldn’t blame him. These tests hadn’t turned out half as successful as I’d hoped.  

“Fin don’t.” Bendy’s eyes looked like they might close in a moment. “He’s just trying to help.”

“Yeah? I don’t like help that nearly kills my friends,” Finley added. I flinched. This was as much my fault as Oddswell’s. We’d just have to handle this.

Finley glanced at the young wolf. “You good, Boris?”

“Yeah,” Boris said softly, looking upset. So, not really.

Finley sucked in a breath. “I’m going for a walk before I do somethin’ I regret. Be back later.” Finley was gone the next moment.

Stars. This was a mess. With a heavy feeling, I collapsed in a nearby chair. I put my head in a hand. “I should have just stopped him. I should have known better.”

“Don’t.” Bendy’s hoarse voice made me look up.

“We don’t want you to beat yourselves up. You’re trying to help people. None of us knew,” Boris continued and both of them smiled.

These two were really something else. I was lucky to know such upstanding people. I smiled, nodding. That didn’t change the fact that this entire thing had been a fiasco for poor Bendy.

“But, um, Dr. Oddswell where did you get a thing like that?” Boris suddenly asked. “From angels?” One of his ears moved in interest. Bendy even opened his eyes.

Oh. I’d forgotten that he’d said that.

Oddswell stopped what he’d been doing and raised a scaley brow. “Holly brought me the sample. I looked it over and was amazed by it. I’m sure their culture has other medicines that are beyond us. Truly a wonderful elixir, but now I know that there can be side effects for some individuals.” I let out a sigh. That’s something both of us should have considered before testing anyone.

“Holly?” Boris turned to look at me.

I blinked. Should I tell them?

I blinked again. But the only way it would make sense is if I mentioned that Alice was an angel.

I blinked a third time. But Alice would be upset if I told anyone.

I blinked a fourth time. But Alice was bound to really hurt herself if she kept on going like this!

I blinked a fifth time. I should do it. Go ahead Holly, say it.

I blinked a sixth time. And where exactly should I start?

“I’m not exactly sure how to explain it,” I said finally. “It’s a long story.”

This seemed to amuse Bendy a little. He looked at his brother. ”I don’t think we’re going anywhere for now,” Boris added.

I nodded. Well...here it went. “After you two left to get the part, I went to the Black Hat Casino with the Warners looking for Alice.”

Bendy blinked, seeming to take a moment to understand what I’d said. “How is she?” Boris asked.

No beating around the bush about this. “Not good. She looked like she’d been stripped to her bare threads. And she wouldn’t tell us what she was doing either. It took us a day to find her in the first place too, because no one at the casino even had realized she’d come back.” There was no one to look out for her but people like _Polly_.

Oddswell, curious, spoke up. “Why wouldn’t she tell you what she was doing?”

That was the anxiety inducing question, wasn’t it?

“She told me that it would get me in trouble if I knew. And me and the Warners really pushed to find out what it was. She just wouldn’t tell.” I remembered the look Bendy had given me the first time I’d admitted to stalking someone. Well, it didn’t matter. “That’s why I decided to try and find out on my own,” I said looked down at my hands.

What happened from this point on is fairly straightforward. I told Bendy and Boris the truth. I told them about Alice. I hadn’t even realized how much worry I'd been carrying inside until I felt the relief seeing that plan was forming to help Alice. There was just one problem.

“Holly, how easy would it be for you to convince Alice to leave?” Bendy asked.

I blinked. Oh, yeah. She had no idea any of us were doing this. I frowned at his question. Wouldn’t it just be better for me to go there and tell her before all this happened? But then, knowing Alice, she’d tell me that she was fine. She tell me that we shouldn’t try something as dangerous as getting her halo back from Black Hat.

“It might be a bit difficult, but I think I can do it. She probably will be pretty upset that I told someone her secret.” I finished the last bits of my sketch of the casino. “And I’ll have to tell her you’re going after her halo.” Hopefully, she wouldn’t be too upset.

The idea of Alice being disappointed with me sent an arrow of pain through my heart.

Bendy pursed his lips, considering. “She can be mad at us both, because there will be more of us involved in this.” I nodded slowly. No surprise there. This wasn’t something we should try alone. It’s why I hadn’t just wandered around the casino trying to find Alice’s halo myself.

“Who you thinking, bro?” Boris inquired.

“You, me, Holly, the Warners, Felix, Mugs, Cups, Finley and Sammy will be at our escape points.” Inwardly, I grimaced at the idea of having to work with the Cups. Not because I hate them. At this point, I am more confused concerning them than anything, because some of their action contradict themselves. After their responses and Felix’s lecture I feel like a bad person for holding onto my suspicion. But, applesauce, I’d have no real reason to let go of it. In fact, I had only found more reasons to be suspicious!!

“Anyone else in our group that’s a good fighter?” Bendy asked.

Boris frowned. “Not unless we want Wiston to burn it down.” I nearly choked, trying to hold back a sudden laugh. The image of Wiston running around with a torch, Fireball just behind him, was terrifying and hilarious.

“What about the detectives? If the halo is stolen, surely they can do something to get it back,” Oddswell suggested.

The idea didn’t even hold up for a second in my mind. “We’d have to prove it, though.” I was still mad about how the police hadn’t been able to do anything to catch Robert Sykes. If Alice hadn’t helped...I scowled. “Even though I saw Robert Sykes barely a foot away from me, by the time the police got to that casino, they could do nothing about it.”

“And we can’t afford to miss this shot,” Boris said firmly. “Things will only get more difficult. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to do anything if Mr. Hat is on his guard.”

“I agree.” We had to be careful.

“So, the quickest and easiest way will be on our own,” Bendy concluded. “How’s that map coming along?”

“Finished.” I slid the casino map to him.

“Good, let's head downstairs and see who’s here.” Bendy leaned over the map. “We can organize a game plan and the best escape routes.” Uh...I stared at the slight shake in his hands and the gauntness of his face. No, Bendy, you weren’t.

“But Bendy, shouldn’t you rest?” Boris asked.

Grateful Boris was here to talk sense into Bendy I added, “Alice doesn’t go to work until sunset.”

“But we don’t know who will be back here when. We’ll need everyone on the same page before nightfall,” Bendy argued. His lip had a stubborn set to it.

“Bendy,” Boris reasoned. “You’ll be no good to anyone exhausted.”

Bendy frowned, spine straightening as if he were trying to prove that he _was not_ in fact, tired. Big palooka. Him and that Mugman. They both needed a dose of Oddswell’s night-time tea.

“Look, I’ll stop people from leaving,” Boris pleaded. “You sleep for a few hours, and I’ll come to wake you up when we have everyone. Deal?” Bendy still didn’t answer, his pointed tail flicking about like an angry cat’s.

“You’re the only one who can find the halo, Bendy. We need you in good shape,” I tried. Maybe if it wasn’t about him?

“I’m fine,” Bendy said, unperturbed.

“Actually, you are exhausted. And as your doctor, I am ordering you to bed rest.” I jumped as the doctor spoke from right behind me. When had he moved?

Bendy’s mouth opened, his eyes narrowed, but Boris cut him off before he could even start. “Please don’t fight, Bendy. Just get some sleep.”

Bendy glanced at Boris and froze. Surprised, I looked too.

My heart started to instantly melt.

H-how could he make his eyes _that_ big?

It was like getting caught in the stare of a cobra! Except...cuter?

What sort of strange talent was this?!?

Bendy was no match. He looked away with a few blinks. “Fine!” he grumbled. “Alright! Wake me in a few hours! Happy?” He folded his arms grumpily.

“Thank you, bro!” Boris barked happily. With that, the three of us quickly filed out of the room and shut the door as Bendy lay on the bed with a scowl.

I couldn’t help but smile as Boris shut the door. I grinned at him. “Thank you.”

“Me? I should be thanking you. Bendy is really stubborn.” Boris shrugged. “Usually he would have come down anyway and pass out on the couch.” The wolf sighed and shook his head.

I laughed. “I guess that’s why you two are brothers. That’s some weapon you have. I swear, my head started to reel the moment you made those puppy eyes.”

Boris smirked. It was actually...devious looking, a look that belonged on Bendy more than Boris. “Bendy isn’t the only one with some hidden talents.”

My eyes widened. “Well, aren’t you full of surprises!” We walked down the stairs and into the living room. I looked around. There was something I needed to do. Where was Finley?

Boris went over to the kitchen to talk to Granny and Wakko was there eating an apple. But there wasn’t anyone else in the house on the first floor.

I glanced at Wakko. “Did you see where Finley went?” I asked.

He looked over and pointed toward the front door.

“Thanks Wakko.” I nodded at him and went out the door, looking down the street for any sign of the fox. He was at the end of the block, seemingly deciding which way to go.

I approached him slowly, giving a wave. “Hey, Fin. You mind if I walk with you for a moment?”

He looked over his shoulder at me. At first he looked mad, but then his face relaxed. “Sorry, yeah, you can come.”

I nodded, falling into step with him. “How are you doing?” I asked quietly.

He heaved a sigh like there was a weight on his chest. “Fine. I’m just annoyed.”

“Want to talk about it?” I asked. A moment later, I realized that might be inconsiderate considering those tests had been mine. “You don’t have to. Really, I came out here because I wanted to say sorry about what happened.”

Fin looked me up and down. “You didn’t know what the hell was gonna happen, little lady. I don’t think that’s a good thing.” His eyes narrowed. “It’s reckless.” He heaved another huge sigh. That hurt. But, it was true.

I nodded. “You’re right.” The words were bitter in my mouth. A strong desire filled me to the point that it was painful. “I wish I knew more. If I knew more, I could help.” And I wouldn’t have to risk anyone. I needed _more_ knowledge.

“But,” Finley looked me over again, “You’re trying to _help._ Saving lives has some risks.” Finley swallowed. “If you can find something that can buy Bendy even one more day or make... _that_ less painful, it’s worth it. He knows it too, that’s why he agreed to try.”

I blinked and looked at him. “Then, I won’t give up,” I whispered.  

Finley smiled a half smile. “Good. We’d hate to see you do that.”

I nodded, looking down at the sidewalk. “You know, Finley, I really like you. I admire your honesty.”

The fox chuckled. “Me? Sweetie, you ain’t fallin' for me, are ya?” His tone was kidding.

I laughed. I was surprised to find that the idea didn’t bother me. It wasn’t like that, though. I just admired him.

“But in all seriousness, that’s sweet of you,” Finley said.

I grinned at him. “Oh, I’m sweet, am I? I thought I was reckless.”

“You can’t be both?” he winked. “So what did I do to earn such an honor?”

I ducked my head a little. “I liked how you handled things when Bendy was trying to explain his transformation. It made me a little...upset to think he felt we were judging him.” I looked up and raised a brow. “And then what you said basically felt like you were reading my mind.”

Finley chuckled. “Nah sweetie, I was just speakin’ my mind is all. It’s gottin’ me into plenty a-trouble too.” He shrugged. “But I do know where he’s comin’ from too.” He rubbed his nose with his thumb with a sniff.

“What do you think?” I tilted my head a little, curious.

“Well, Sammy and I are street guys. Our roof was the stars and our bed was the streets until recently. And when ya live like that, people can be quick to judge. We did street performances to earn a little cash, and we were accused a number a’times for stealing from our audience.” He shook his head and scoffed like the idea was ridiculous. He stuck his hands in his pockets as we walked. That surprised me. It seemed that Sammy and Finley had both had it tough out in the world. It made me sad to think that people would accuse them of stealing. 

“Anyway, I don’t know much of Bendy’s past. But from the bits and pieces he has shared, it sounds like he had it even tougher than us. And that kinda treatment can really make a guy jaded,” Finley commented.

“It makes sense that he’d have to become so strong willed and stubborn,” I admitted. “And to have to expect judgement.” I thought about the instant distrust I’d given to the Cup brothers, without even talking to them once. And then, when I had talked to them, they’d been so much different than I’d expected. Minus the tree hanging. I can still hear that cup laughing now. Intimidating? Yes. Cold-blooded? Strangely, not so far that I’d seen. Annoying? Definitely.

“Bullheaded is more like it,” Finley huffed. “But yeah, he’s quick to jump on the defensive and put up his walls. He just needed the reminder that we’re also his pals. Might happen again, but it’s just how he grew up. He doesn’t expect to be treated fairly or to be heard out. He’s actually done real well for someone like that. Usually they turn out more like Sammy or that Cup guy. Super quiet or super sarcastic.” Well, that was a punch in the feels. It was like he’d read my mind again.

I nodded. “Speaking of that Cup guy, I was wondering, what do you think about them?”

Finley frowned and narrowed his ears. His large ears fell. “I don’t really know, sweets. Last I saw them, they were shooting at us with deadly blasts in Warnerburg tryin’ ta kill us. Now they’re here with Bendy, swearin’ they wanna do good.”

His frown deepened. “My gut says trouble, but if they earned Bendy’s trust and really risked their lives like he says they did, they should have a chance. Maybe some kindness is all they need.”

I let out a long breath. We were getting near Betty’s place now. Where I should be working. Bless that woman. “I agree with you on that point, but I feel stuck in the middle about it. They keep on doing things that make me feel suspicious.”

“Well, when you’ve done something for years and years, do you change suddenly overnight? Some people can, but as for me? When I wanna change something about myself, it usually takes weeks, months, years. Stars, there are still things I want to change that I haven’t gotten to yet,” Finley said. “My temper, for example. If it had been the me of two years ago, I woulda decked that doc for poisonin’ Bendy. Then, he wouldn’ta been able to get that stuff to save him. I woulda made a bad situation worse.” Finley looked over at me with a smirk.

I smirked back. Not to mention knocking out our only doctor. Although, I couldn’t say I hadn’t felt just as angry at how that had happened. “So, just ‘cause they didn’t change overnight doesn’t mean that they ain’t tryin’.”

I hung my head. Which meant I should give them a chance. I groaned, running a hand through my hair. “Giving them a chance might take me a minute,” I admitted. But I didn’t want to be anything like the sort of people who would look at Finley, Sammy, Bendy or Boris and just see some homeless troublemaker.

Finley chuckled. “Well, you don’t have to do much. At least not now. Just...let them do good when they want to do good and let them know it was good.” Finley grinned. “A little compliment and positive reinforcement goes a long way for a troublemaker.” He laughed. “That’s probably why Sammy is so good for me, and Boris is for Bendy.”

That made me quirk my mouth. That sat right with me. I could do that. Anyone who had done good deserved to be recognized for it. Nodding slowly, I laughed. “Thanks, Fin.” I shook my head. “I came out here to make sure you were okay, and you ended up making me feel better.”

Finley smiled. “Hearing your laugh has made me worlds happier. Thank you, sweets.”

That made me blush a little. Finley really was a poet. The silver tongued fox. “Well, I’m going to be heading back. I have some things I want to try in the yard while we have time.”

“Dangerous things? Magic things?” Finley asked with a curious look.

“Magic things,” I confirmed. “Not dangerous. I’m thoroughly familiar with the rune. It’s something else that I’m want to test.”

Finley tilted his head. “Can I watch?” He smirked, his eyelids dropping to half mast. “Or would I be too distracting?”

I shook my head. “You can watch.” We turned around and started to head back towards the house. Eventually, we went around the house and into the back yard.

I put my bag on the table, and Finley sat down on the other side. I pulled out the angel map. Out of anything I’d done, activating and holding the map was the most labor intensive. It had drained me of energy pretty quickly the first time I’d used it. That was why I’d been careful to only activate it only as long as I needed it afterwards.

But at this point, draining my energy was the point.

I unrolled the currently blank paper and set my hand beside the runes at the bottom. I activated the map. The paper sprang to life with ink, and suddenly a detailed sketch of the area blinked into existence. We weren’t anywhere near the casino, so there were no markers. It was just the landscape and street signs. A couple minutes passed. Finley watched wide eyed, large ears up.

A couple more minutes passed. Half an hour passed, and I didn’t feel it at all. I wasn’t imagining things. Once again, the only thing I could think of that would be strange enough to do this was the cog. The question was how, and was it doing different things to other people?

Should I go look at the cog again?

I set my head on the table. Well, I’d proven what I’d needed to myself. I let go of the casting and the paper went blank again. “Well, I’ve confirmed my theory,” I said, looking at Finley. “I can’t seem to run out of magic.”

“Is...that weird?” he asked. He tilted his head, his ears brushed a tree branch and twitched.

“It’s the same concept as what happened with the ‘Courage’ rune. Eventually, I should be feel the way you did if I’m constantly using my soul to power the runes.” I folded the map up and slid it back into my journal, placing the book in my bag. “But I’m not. Which is...interesting.” And not without some beneficial potential. I wouldn’t have to waste time taking breaks while I tested runes. And those more complicated castings that had been out of my reach would be possible.

“Are you okay?” Finely asked with furrowed brows.

I nodded, smiling at him. “I’m practically brimming with energy. I think...it’s the cog. I’ve done research, and the cog specifically changes a person physically. It can alter reality in that way. I think that’s what’s happened to me.” I stood up. “Which is why I want to go look at it again.”

Finley stood up. “You sure that’s a good idea, sweets? Aren’t those things dangerous?”

I paused, taking a moment to think. “That’s true. But if it has already affected me...still is effecting me, then that means that simply being near it is enough. Going a little closer to look at it won’t make a difference.” I shrugged.

“...If you say so.” Finley didn’t sound convinced.

I smiled apologetically. “Just for a little while.”

We went inside the house. The problem was that the cog was no longer where it had been before. Finley gave me a look when I stopped in the room, looking for it. I shrugged again, laughing a little at myself. Well, I’d gotten myself so excited I hadn’t thought things through.

Not one to give up, though, I went into the kitchen to see if Boris was still talking with Granny.

He was eating a muffin with a happy smile. “Hey Boris,” I said as I walked in. He looked up with perked ears. I bit back my question.

Boris looked so relaxed. And we only had a couple of hours until chaos reigned again. Finley gave me a smirk. I guess I could just wait until a better time.

Instead, Boris, Finley, Granny and I sat in the kitchen and talked. Granny gave Finley and I muffins and milk. The next hour was honestly one of the most relaxed I’ve had in weeks. Eventually, everyone went about their business, and I ended up alone in the kitchen. There, I decided to catch up on my writing.

I was just getting to the end of writing about the experiments when I heard the front door open. Sound of voices overlapping filtered in. It looked like it was time. I got up and moved into the front room. When I looked back again, I suddenly found myself eye to eye with Cuphead. He and his brother were sitting on a couch across the room. He raised his one visible eyebrow. Something like humor danced in his lifted eye. It was like he was still laughing at me from below that tree.

I felt my eye twitch.

His mouth twitched like he was holding back a smirk.

Put the tree behind you, Holly. It’s not like you were going to ever to that again. I forced my eyes away from him and on to the rest of the people. To my relief, Xedo and Wiston were there, so I took a seat next to Wiston.

Oh, the comfortable silence of being next to a fox who liked to watch and write many times. It was nice not to have to talk and just be able to think.

“Anyone have any idea what Bendy wants?” Cuphead spoke up. Of course, the silence couldn’t last very long.

It took a moment for anyone to answer. “No idea, but I’m betin’ it’s important,” Fin finally said.

Ah Finley, ever a good mediator. Should I try to be amiable too? “I’m sure he’ll be down in a moment,” I tried.

“Oh good, everyone’s ready.” Boris and Bendy appeared from the staircase. Bendy looked a little bit better than he had when he’d gone to sleep, but definitely not good enough. He needed more rest. I pressed my lips together. Really, everyone did. I wish that this had come at a different time...But I didn’t regret telling Bendy about Alice. I refused to.

“Hey everyone, thanks for waiting. We have a bit of a mission tonight that we’d like to ask your help on,” Bendy said.

Bendy proceeded to explain what had happened to the group. When people started asking questions, I took over, explaining what Alice was and what I’d seen.

“An angel! At a casino? What casino?” Felix’ reaction was immediate and excited. He leaned forward with wide eyes.

“The Black Hat Casino,” I said.

“Oh dear,” Felix said. I blinked. Why the reaction? What did he know?

“What’s wrong Mr. Felix?” Boris asked.

“That’s the place I found the demon script. It was how I learned about the map,” Felix explained. Demon script? He learned about the map there? More importantly, Felix knew how to read _demon script_? I had to ask him about that! I blinked and pulled myself back. Later. I had to focus.

“Hat knows about the map? Why?” Bendy asked with a worried look.

“I don’t know, but he also knows about the Machine. We’ll have to be extra careful,” Felix said, looking grim.

“What would he want with the Ink Machine?” Boris said with a shake of his head.

Why would he want the Ink Machine? If I understood what I’d heard about the demon so far, he was intent on some sort of plan. A plan that required a lot of power, even if it was angel power. “Black Hat could want the machine or its parts simply because of the power each of those items has. Even individually, each of them could do terrible things. But at this point, I’m more worried about Alice. She’s been pushing herself to dangerous levels. But she won't stop because Black Hat stole her halo.” Either way, we needed to move this discussion forward again.

Killer Cup muttered something and Felix looked at him. “What was that Cuphead?”

“I said that’s terrible,” the cup grumbled, looking away. Uh-huh. That definitely _wasn’t_ what he’d just said. I watched him closely as Bendy unfolded the map I’d drawn. They leaned forward lazily, barely looking at it while everyone else’s eyes searched the map.

I bit the edge of my lip. Not a surprise. After all, if those pictures in the hidden area were of them, they’d lived there, right? What was their connection? Would it cause a problem to the plan? If they wanted to continue to be here, they couldn’t, could they?

I only half paid attention as Bendy continued to explain the plan, but eventually someone mentioned needing another car. I knew exactly who to call. The last time I’d ridden with Snoopy I’d gotten his personal cab number, so now it was easy to ask for him.

Bendy, Boris, Felix, and the Cup brothers all piled into Felix’s car. Everyone else, AKA: me, Finley, Sammy and the Warners all squished into the back of Snoopy’s taxi.

Let me tell you, being nose to nose with Dot Warner while going on a ride like _that_ is something of nightmares. She asked him to do _more._ Challenged him even. And Snoopy is not a dog to disappoint. I might have lost a few years of my life on that ride. There were points where I wasn’t even sure whether we were still in Toon Town when I looked out the window. I’m pretty sure I saw stars outside. Not night time stars. Close up stars. It was all a black-starry blur…

Luckily, going that fast, the ride didn’t last too long. One moment I was staring out the window, wondering whether the green blob I was looking at was a martian, the next I was looking at trees and a giant hat building. I rolled down the window and leaned out, gasping in the _still_ air. Sammy had swirls in his eyes. Finley was limp in the seat next to mine. The Warners hooted rambunctiously. “Do it again!” Dot cackled.

A few minutes later, once the rest of us had regained our faculties, Felix’s car pulled up. Bendy rolled down the window and leaned out. “Okay, we go in groups of five. It shouldn’t be too obvious. Hang around the tables, look for something fun for ten minutes, then head to your targets. If anything goes wrong, head to your escape point.”

“Okay mom! Can you leave now?” Finley grinned weakly. He’d managed to bounce back. The three of us were all too happy to pile out of Snoopy’s car. Bendy, Boris, Felix and the Cup brothers climbed out of theirs. Fin hopped up into Felix’s car, sending the rest of us a wink before he disappeared down the road.

Bendy, Cuphead and Felix went in first while Boris, Mugs and I waited.  

“How was the ride?” Mugs asked. “We didn’t see you fellas pass us up.”

I gave him a weary smile. “That’s because we never did. If you ever want to get somewhere in an impossibly short amount of time, stick Dot Warner in the car with that taxi dog.” I put a hand on my forehead. “You’ll see strange things…”

Both Mugs and Boris gave me confused and slightly alarmed looks. “With zanies I wouldn’t be so surprised,” Mugs said. Boris nodded.

I nodded in agreement as well, but then my eyes flickered to Mugman. “By the way, how are you doing?”  

“Fine.” He shrugged.

Boris leaned a little in front of him. “Your stitches still not bothering you?”

Mugs puckered his lips. “They tug a little but still not any pain really.”

My mind almost went back to the cog and questions again, but I firmly told it no. “Make sure you’re careful, then. It would be bad if they broke, and you didn’t notice.”

Mugs sighed and dropped his head...almost like that had already happened. My eyes narrowed.

“Mugs.” Boris gave him a deadpan glare.

“It was on the quest! It was already taken care of,” Mugs defended.  

I tilted my head at him. And what about last night? You big palooka. I sighed. “I’m starting to get the sense that this group has issues with recklessness.”

Mugs smiled at that. “If you think I’m bad, just wait until you see Cuphead.”

Boris rolled his eyes. “He can’t be worse than Bendy.”

“Wanna bet?” Mugs raised his eyebrows with a challenging smirk.

A humorous silence fell and I glanced at Mugman again. “I also wanted to say thank you for getting me out of that tree...even when I snapped at you.” My voice got softer with each word I spoke.

“A...tree?” Boris looked from me to Mugs. “Why were you in a tree? When did that happen, Mugs? Why did you snap at him?” Boris whipped his head back and forth between us as he asked question after question.

Mugs chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. “It...uh…” He looked at me for a moment. “Wasn’t a big deal. One of Cuphead’s pranks.”

“I was being rude and asking too many questions, and he hung me from a tree branch.” Not entirely the truth, but it was the only favor Mugman had asked for, so why not try it? He looked surprised, like he didn’t expect me to go with it.

“A...tree branch?” Boris tilted his head. Then his eyes widened. “ _That’s_ why he called you tree princess!” He blinked and looked to Mugman. “Why would he do that?”

Mugs shrugged. “He has a weird sense of humor.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I grumbled.

“I really am sorry for him,” Mugs said with an apologetic smile. “He does mean well.”

I shrugged. “Okay,” was about as much as I could manage. I glanced at my watch. “It’s been ten minutes.”

“Let’s go,” Boris said and headed in. Mugman and I followed him, and we walked back toward the sleeping quarters. I opened my map inside my bag and activated it to check if Alice was there. She...wasn’t. I should have known things would go wrong the moment we stepped into the casino. Cosmic irony, I tell you. I touched Boris’ arm, motioning for the other two to stop as I searched the map for any of the three markers. Two in the back. The third was probably in that weird basement maze of halls.

“Something wrong?” Mugs asked.

“She’s not in the staff quarters,” I said. I pointed at the markers in the back. “She’s either somewhere back here with someone else or...she’s in the basement.” I pointed at the lone marker, once again looking like it was somewhere out in the woods.

Mugs stiffened like I shocked him.

“Then, I guess we should check that back room first,” Boris suggested. Mugman gave a jerky nod. I nodded, but in the back of my mind the words ‘cosmic irony’ echoed. I’d bet anything we were going to find her in the basement.

It took us a few minutes, but we reached the area that was just outside the staffing rooms. Mugs silently opened it and looked in. “She’s a cute girl?” Mugman asked.

“With black hair,” I added.

“She’s in there.” Mugman nodded. “With an older woman.”

I blinked. Thank the stars! I was wrong! “That’s Polly,” I whispered.

“Never seen her before.” Mugs frowned. “She’s an angel too?”

“Yes.” A cranky one.

Mugs frowned. “She...doesn’t look like an angel.”

“Let me see.” Boris poked his head under Mugs. “She has a beak!” he whispered.

“Yes, she does. I’m not sure why, but she’s definitely an angel. I can’t say that I’ve found her very angelic, though.” Was it me or was my journal brain leaking out into the world more often lately? I never was this sarcastic out loud before.

“Can we just go in there and talk to her?” Boris asked.

That honestly sounded like a bad idea to me. “She’s not a very welcoming type, Boris. Imagine trying to get Fanny to break a hospital rule. That’s how I’m guessing she would react.” But how else were we supposed to talk to Alice?

The wolf winced and dropped his ears. Mugs frowned. “Then, I guess we have to wait for the woman to leave or your friend to come out.”

Whoopee. So much for doing this quickly. I took a turn at the crack and looked in at Alice and Polly.

Boris sat against the wall. Mugs, for some reason, kept the door open so we heard what the two angels were saying.

“You have to stop with this nonsense, Alice. I refuse to report your death to the Upper because of your stupidity,” Polly huffed. My eyelashes flickered, and a pang of worry ran through me again. Alice, this was simply reckless!

“But with you and Willen being fallen, the toll on giving magic is worse. I can handle it. Mr. Hat wouldn’t understand if the magic transfer suddenly dropped,” Alice argued. “It’d be worse on you two.”

Polly growled. “Look here, girl! I didn’t ask for your pity or your charity! I may have fallen and lost my beauty, but I still have my dignity! I don’t need to be saved by an unwinged _child._ I know my limits, but you obviously are forgetting yours. Remember your place!”

Alice dunked her head. “I-I’m sorry, Polly. I didn’t mean to insult you.”

“Hmph! Keep this up and we’ll see what fallen mark you’ll get!” Polly snapped. Alice gasped. “Oh, don’t think I’m not on to you, missy! These miracles are strong enough to take items from the Upper, and you’re dumb enough to do it. If that mess is your fault, you can be sure that the consequences won’t be pleasant.” I winced. This was bad, very bad.

“Polly!” Alice sounded shocked and...a little angry. It wasn’t like Polly had just practically accused her of being the source of all trouble.

“Don’t think a beaked face or scarred hands are the worst fallen marks out there!” Polly said. “I got my eye on you.”

“At least I’m not a bitter, snobbish old bat that feels like the Upper owes her an apology!” Alice snapped back. Well, Alice had just broke.

“Well, I never!” Polly gasped.

“And that’s part of your problem!” Alice retorted and marched toward the door. My eyes went wide, and I quickly moved away, motioning towards the other two. We pressed against the wall as Alice stormed out of the room and stomped down the hall. Mugs and Boris stared wide-eyed. Boris moved to catch up to him. I made sure that Polly didn’t follow, and then I ran after Alice as well.

“Hey!”

“Alice!” Boris came up beside her. Alice jumped and turned wide dark eyes on him.

“Boris! What are you doing here?” Alice gasped.

“We came to bring you back. We’ve all been worried about you,” Boris explained with a gentle smile. I caught up to the two of them.

Alice’s shoulders dropped. “I can’t Boris, I have to--”

“Bendy is already getting it for you.” Boris cut her off. Well, it was nice to see that Boris was good at cutting through all the awkward ‘I know you’re an angel and that you’re being blackmailed parts.’ This would save us _loads_ of time. “We aren’t leaving without you, Alice.” He sounded determined. Okay, I sort of loved Boris at this moment.

Alice froze. She paled. Oh, shoot. This was where the other shoe would drop, wasn’t it? Boris stopped walking but didn’t stop talking. “We know you don’t like it here. You helped us when we were trapped. We want to help you! We _can_ help you, so we are!” Boris stated.

“B-But, you and he...and…” She looked at me with hurt in her eyes. That killed me. “You _told?”_

I wanted to look down. Heavens, I wanted to shrink into a small round object and go hide in a corner, but it didn’t. I met her eyes. “You’re killing yourself, Alice. You are important to all of us. I couldn’t not tell them knowing that.” And if she couldn’t forgive me for doing that, I understood, but I still didn’t regret it.

“We were going to come here thanks to your letter anyway,” Boris said. “And we would have found out too. Do you really think anything would stop Bendy when he's made his decision.”

Alice heaved a long suffering sigh. “I can’t just leave. I have to help the others, and Mr. Hat isn’t going to let you just walk away with--”

“I think we’ll do fine.” Mugs suddenly cut in. I blinked and tilted my head. I’d been wondering if he was going to speak up.

Alice blinked. “Who are you?”

“I’m Mugman! I’m a friend of Boris’.” Mugs smiled.

“You don’t know Mr. Hat lik--”

“Like you do? No, I probably know him better, and I’m tellin’ ya, once you have your halo back, he ain’t gonna fight ya. He hates angel magic.” My eyes widened. So, they _had_ lived here. Alice’s brow knit as her frown deepened. Boris glanced at Mugs sadly. “Either we leave or hand you the halo. Either way, Hat won’t try anything against you again with that back in your hands.”

C’mon Alice, trust him.

I just realized how ironic that thought was...

“But...Willen and Polly, I can’t just leave them.” Alice pouted.

“Well…” Mugs bit his lip.

“Would Bendy be able to find their halos too?” I wasn’t sure what was keeping them here. If they were fallen, did they still have halos?

Mugman shrugged. Alice sighed and shook her head. “It’ll be amazing if he can find mine, and that’s an angel not fallen. Theirs will be weaker. I really doubt it.”

Mugs cleared his throat. “Cup and I...could talk to him.” Mugs winced even saying it. I turned and stared. I’d gotten the impression (remember the school books) that he and Cuphead thoroughly disliked Black Hat. They’d do that to help?  

Alice turned a confused gaze back to him. “What makes you think you can change his mind? How do you even know Mr. Hat?” Good question, do tell.

Mugs smiled and scratched the back of his head. “That’s kinda a long story. Maybe another time.” Well, once again, that would have been too easy.

“The point is we want you to come with us Alice.” Boris offered her a hand. “We’ll do anything we can to help you.”

I smiled. “We even brought the Warners.”

Alice smiled weakly. “If I say no, you won’t leave, will you?”

“Nope!” Boris said. Mugs shook his head.

“Not a chance,” I added.  

Alice laughed. “You’re all crazy. You’re putting yourselves against a powerful demon.”

“I do that everyday.” Boris smirked. I laughed on the inside.

Alice shook her head. “I don’t know who’s crazier. You for doing this or me going through with it.”

“Definitely you.” Boris smiled. “Now, go get your things.” Alice smiled and turned down a hall. She froze. Boris bumped into her. Dr. Flug was walking down the hall. Oh, applesauce.

“Alice, it’s your…” He stopped and looked at Alice and then the rest of us. “Mugman?”

“Oh…” Mugs chuckled nervously. “Hey, Dr. Flug.”

Dr. Flug looked like someone had slapped him. “What are you doing here?” He looked around, his eyes narrowing behind his goggles. “Where’s your brother?”

“Not here,” Mugs said quickly. “Just dropping by.” Just dropping by? That sounded like an excuse even to me, and I had no idea what his relationship was with these people. Well, it’s not like I had anything better to add at this moment. I was standing there, hoping desperately that our plans wouldn’t fall apart around us.

Dr. Flug sighed. “Does boss know you’re here?”

“Nope.” Mugs popped the ‘p’ and glanced toward us.

“Does _your_ boss know you’re here?” Dr. Flus said. Mugs scowled at him. Dr. Flug blinked and glanced at us. He pinched the bridge of his nose through the bag. “Do I even want to know?”

“Probably not,” Mugs admitted. “But I’m taking her with me.” Mugs tossed a casual thumb at Alice.

Dr. Flug sputtered. “What! You can’t do that! We need her for--” He cut himself off.

Mugs slowly raised a brow. “For…?”

“Nothing,” Dr. Flug said quickly. Defensively.

“Well, if it’s for nothing, then you don’t mind.” Mugs shrugged and gestured for us to keep walking. That...had been an interesting back and forth. What didn’t Flug want Mugs to know? Alice, Boris and I started to move.

“You have to tell the boss before you go,” Dr. Flug pointed at him.  

“Oh, don’t worry. Cup and I will be back later to talk.” Mugs waved a dismissive hand.

Dr. Flug sputtered. “Not later! Later could be months when it comes to you two! I’m not explaining why Alice just disappeared!” He turned to Alice. “And if you leave, the deal is off!”

Mugs stepped between them. He put his hands on his hips. “I said we’d come back. Just tell Mr. Hat that Cup and I took her and not to expect her back.”

Somehow, I could tell the scientist was scowling through his bag. “...Unless there is something you’d like to tell me?”

“No,” Dr. Flug said through gritted teeth. “I’m going to Mr. Hat right now!” Dr. Flug turned on his heels. Well, that was our cue to run.

“Okay!” Mugs smiled and waved. He turned back to us, smile gone. “We have five minutes. We better go.”

“But what about Bendy?” Boris asked.

“He and Cup will have to handle it. We need to go now,” Mugs said.

With that, the four of us headed back towards the entrance. We made it to the lobby without a problem. There were coats and hats thrown everywhere, employees and guests scrambling around. It seemed the Warners had been here. Alice paused for a second. Boris grabbed her hand, and we rushed out the door.

It was a straight shot to our pick up spot. Finley grinned when he saw us. “Welcome to the sneaky fox get-away! Buckle up!” Boris reached the car first and yanked the handle open. Alice and I slid inside.

Boris jumped in after us. Mugs paused before climbing into the front seat. “Maybe I should go back and help them.” I glanced at him.   

“They aren’t expecting you,” Finley said. “It’s probably better for you to come with us.” Mugs glanced back with a conflicted gaze.

“If you’re going to regret not doing it, then maybe you should go,” I offered. I didn’t know what was going through his mind, but it was a philosophy I went by. I didn’t want any weight on my conscience.

Mugs looked at me and nodded. He shut the door without climbing in. “See ya back at the house!” he said and ran off back to the casino. Boris watched with a worried look. I wondered if he was considering going after Mugs. Finley pressed the gas, however, and we started to move forward.

I looked at Alice. She looked back at the hotel and to Boris with worry in her eyes. She was as tired and worn as the last time I had seen her. I tried to find something to say. ‘Are you alright’ felt a bit thick. She was obviously worried.

“Boris? Should we really leave them? It doesn’t feel right,” Alice asked.

“I...trust Bendy. They’ll be fine.” Boris nodded and turned back around. “What about you? Are you okay?”

Tears pricked at her eyes. “I feel like I’m abandoning them!” Well, heavens, there was regret right there!

“Do you think you could help by going back?” I asked.

Her head dropped. Answering silently.

“Then, trust them. Bendy alone packs a pretty mean wallop.” I glanced back towards the casino myself. “And those other two give mobsters night terrors.” There was more than a little humor in me as I said that. “They’ll be okay.”

Alice bit her lip. “I really hope so.”

Finley drove quickly, but safely, back to Granny’s house. Alice was received with warm smiles and concern. Granny had tea ready; Oddswell, that elixir. Wiston hugged her.

“Have Bendy and the others come back yet?” Boris asked.

“Not yet,” Xedo said. Boris sat on the couch, glancing at the front door once in a while. The house remained silent. Tense. It was terrible. I wanted to get up and do something, but at the same time, it felt wrong to do anything while we were waiting for the others to be able to get back. I stuck with Alice for a while. She seemed exhausted though and eventually ended up falling asleep on the kitchen table. She’d tried so hard to stay awake.

Xedo and Granny got her up to take her to one of the many guest beds to rest. She tried to argue, but Boris gave her those large puppy eyes (aka, Boris' special powers, the end all arguments ability), and she gave in. After that, Boris hardly moved from the seat on the couch.

I stood in the kitchen doorway, looking out at Boris. Finley was at the table, and I glanced at him. “Do you think they’ll be okay?” I mean, I did think they were all very capable and powerful, but I was keenly aware that both the cup guy and Mugman had seemed nervous about the whole thing.

Finley tilted his head. “Well, last I was in a pickle with Bendy, the room blew up, and we escaped at high speed. No one ever said it, but I always assumed that it was Bendy’s doin’.”

That made me feel a little better. I nodded. “His shadows really are amazing.”

“Yeah, doesn’t seem to know what to do with them, but you’re right.” Finley chuckled.

BAM.

I jumped as the front door slammed open. “Bendy!” Boris cried out from the living room. My eyes widened, and I exchanged a look with Finley right before we went for the hallway.

“Where’s Alice?” I heard Bendy pant.

“Cuphead! Mr. Felix! What happened! You're all covered in blood!” When I exited the kitchen I saw Bendy stumble into the living room, blood all over his chest and sporting a black eye. Felix followed him, clutching his arm which was also gushing between his fingers. Last of all Cuphead leaned against the door, trying to stay upright as his brother followed behind him. Three enormous claw marks were on his chest.

I gasped. “Horsefeathers!!” They needed medical attention!

“They wouldn’t listen to me. Bendy said we had to come here first,” Mugman said from the door where he helped his brother stay upright.

Medical attention, medical attention, medical attention. _Who could help them!_ My eyes flew through a list of faces in my head. Alice? She was exhausted. Oddswell? He wasn’t that kind of doctor. Red? We needed something faster than bandages.

“What is the meaning of this?” Oddswell was suddenly on the stairs. “I have sleeping subjects!” He stopped when he saw the three bleeding toons. “Mrs. Gopher, get the bandages!” He turned back.

I had it!! The blue fairy was here!!

“Nevermind that, Oddswell. That won’t be enough!” I snapped without thinking, running up the stairs fast.

Oddswell blinked as I passed him. “It’s to slow the bleeding.” Still not enough! He looked back at the others. “What do you three think you’re doing? You should be going to--”

“ALICE!” Bendy bellowed.

Okay, so we really needed Alice then...I paused half a second before continuing to bolt up the stairs.

I heard Boris start to urge Bendy to go to the hospital, but I wasn’t paying attention. “Alice!” I nearly ran into Granny as she appeared at the top of the stairs.

“What is--Oh my!” I nearly plowed her down. Fortunately, I managed to spin out of her way at the last second.

“Get the doll!” I urged in a split second thought. I wasn’t sure what would work on Bendy since he was a demon, but we knew the doll worked.

With that, I ran down the hall to the door Alice was sleeping in. Wrenching it open, I saw her half out of bed, a confused, bleary-eyed look on her face. “Bendy needs you!” I hissed.  
  
Her head snapped up to me. She threw off the covers and raced toward the doorway. “Where?” she ordered.

“Front room,” I barked as I left the room and dashed farther down the hall. Blue fairy, Blue Fairy, Blue Fairy. Where had Oddswell said her room was? I jerked a door open, and Sneezy stared at me in horror, his nightcap still on his head as he sat up in bed. Nope! I closed the door and jerked the next open. “Blue Fairy?” Nope, Snow. “Sorry!”

Third time was the charm. The Blue Fairy blinked at me from her rocking chair. “We need your help!” I said frantically. “They’re injured. Badly!”

She stood up and went to her drawers. Reaching in, she pulled out a wand. A soft blue glow shrouded her. “Take me to them.” Her voice was a soft echo that felt like a whispered cherish from a loving parent.

I waved her in the right direction and ran back down the hall. When we reached the stairs, all three of them had already collapsed to the ground. Bendy seemed barely conscious.

“He’s a demon! My magic’s useless on him!” Alice finished, looking cornered.

“I can heal them.” The blue fairy was suddenly past me, at the bottom of the stairs.  

“Blue Fairy!” Oddswell actually raised his voice. “My lady I must advise against it. Your health--”

She knelt down as Bendy’s eyes started to roll up. “Thank you, doctor, but they’ve risked their lives to help someone else. They are also the brave ones after the cure for us all. How can I stand aside as their lives slip away?”

I looked around for Granny. Had she found the doll?

The Blue Fairy lifted her wand and twirled it with a flick of her wrist. Light-like, tiny shooting stars flew and fell from the wand to the three. It seemed to absorb into them and brighten on their injuries. The light grew brighter and brighter until it was too much to look at directly. I covered my face. Then it faded away. A buzz of cool energy hung in the room. The three were whole, not a spot of blood could be seen. Even their clothes were mended.

My mouth dropped, and I stared. Thank goodness! They all remained unconscious. The Blue Fairy sighed and swayed. Dr. Oddswell stepped up and supported her up. She had paled. “They are healed but most of it was from their own strength. They will need to rest, and even when they awake, they must take it slowly.”

“Yes, Blue Fairy. We will. Now, you must go to your own bed,” the lizard doctor said. Granny came down the stairs.

The old gopher sighed. “I think I was too slow this time.”

I went up to her and hugged her. “No, you helped a lot. I’m just glad the doll wasn’t needed.” She smiled, nodded, and turned to put the doll back to the hiding spot. With Mugs, Boris, Sammy, Alice and Finley’s help, they carried the heroes up to the second floor. They brought them into the room with three beds and laid them down. I mentally dubbed it ‘The Infirmary.’ When that was done, Boris stayed upstairs while the rest of us went to the front room.

Alice sighed. “That was foolish of them. I shouldn’t have done that. He had almost.” She swallowed and paled.

“Almost what?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“He had sent a killing curse after them. If they hadn’t come here or I didn’t have my halo, they wouldn’t have made it! Despite the Blue Fairy’s powerful healing. It would have gotten them. They escaped by a hair!” Alice said in a rush. “It’s a miracle that it hadn’t caught up to the car and crashed it!”

Snoopy. I glanced down in horror. Mugs paled. “He-he--really?” I looked sideways at him.

Alice nodded. Mugs sunk in his seat. “I knew he hates to lose, but stars.” He frowned. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” Still, he sounded shaken.

I looked at him and Alice. How had these two survived living in a place where a demon as terrifying as that ruled?

Oddswell’s tongue flicked out. “You were all very lucky.” If I had to guess at his emotion, I’d say angry.

Mugs snorted. “He wasn’t really trying. That probably means he pretty much had what he wanted.”

And what exactly was that? I wondered, still thinking about the egg. I looked at Alice. “Do you know what he wanted?”

Alice frowned. “Just angel magic. He offered us a contract that listed everything he wouldn’t do with it. It was actually really restrictive. I have no idea what he plans to do with it, but it won’t be anything against the Upper, the angels, the Surface people or an innocent.” She shrugged. “Black Hat also has an aversion to angel magic, so he doesn’t even want to be around it.” So what did he want with so much of it?

Mugs sighed. “I almost don’t wanna know.”

Alice looked around the room before looking at Mugs. “Do you know what happened to Bendy?”

Mugs raised his brows. “Um, he fought a demon?”

“No, no, I mean...his, uh, energy is...different.” Alice flushed.

“Oh? I’m--I don’t know. You might have to ask him.” Mugs shifted uncomfortably.

Different...energy? Well, Bendy'd had that attack while we were doing tests, but that wasn’t anything different...But hadn’t they said Bendy has turned into some giant, frightening creature? Did _that_ mean anything? I frowned at them, puzzling things out in my mind. Just then, I noticed how dark it was outside.

Sigh. I still had to go home. Lovely.

But one more question. I looked at Mugman. “So...you ended up fighting Black Hat?” All of _that_ had been done by Black Hat? It sent an extra wave of worry through me. Just how powerful were full-fledged demons? Could Bendy do that eventually? How had Hat fought them? What had happened with the Warners? Where were the Warners anyways? They hadn’t come back yet?

“Define ‘fight,’ because I’m pretty sure he was playing with us,” Mugs said wearily. I nodded slowly, looking down. This all had gone so much worse than I’d expected. It had been my plan, it should have been better.

I swallowed. “Well, I should get going before it gets darker outside.” I nodded at Mugman. “I’m glad you went back,” I said on impulse. “You seem to have good instincts.”

“You’re heading out? Do you want me to walk you home?” Mugs asked with a concerned knot of his brows.

That was probably one of the most strange questions I’d heard today. I blinked. When I’d imagined the notorious Cup assasins, a concerned expression was the last thing I’d had in mind. I smiled at him. “You should get some rest. You look exhausted.” I shook my head. He _had_ basically gotten no sleep last night.

“I can--” Finley lifted a hand, but the slam of the door cut him off. In walked the Warners. Their clothes had holes, burns, and rips. But they seemed fine, even in good spirits. Yakko licked his fingers and put out a candle sized fire on Wakko’s hat with a pinch. I stared.

“That was a fun night,” Yakko said.

“Yep! I haven’t run around so much since Atlantis!” Wakko grinned.

“Think they’ll get that chandelier fixed in a month?” Dot twirled a cut piece of crystal between her fingers.

“Dunno,” Yakko said. “But I haven’t seen the pits of hell in a while. I think they needed it down there more than in that lobby anyway.” Had Yakko just implied they’d gone to _Hell_ to stick a chandelier down there?  

“I know! You’d think he’d thank us for redecorating his evil pit for him!” Dot smirked. Wha…? What?

“I’m still sad I didn’t get to ride the living lion hedge through the kitchen,” Wakko said. “I wanted to introduce it to steak!”

I could practically hear information and inside stories whizzing by my head at lightning speed. When Yakko looked at me, I tilted my head at him. “Can you teach me to understand you three? Please?” I wanted to know!!!

Yakko smirked. “Someday babe. Someday.” Dagnabit.

“What are you complaining about!” Dot frowned. “You’re the one that found the secret lab!” That made me laugh.  

“Those were fun chemicals.” Wakko grinned. Alice, Mugs and I shared concerned looks.

“So, how was all of your evenings?” Yakko asked.

“Yeah, ya all look tired.” Wakko glanced around the room. “Guess it’s late.”

“Um? When did you lose Black Hat?” I asked tentatively. Obviously, they’d been busy up until now.  

The Warners shared a look. “Was it before or after the lab blew up?” Dot asked.

“I think it was in the pit. We lost him in the caves,” Yakko said.

Wakko shrugged. “Definitely before we came back to the casino from the pit and crashed the bar on entry. He wasn’t around at all.” Well, that answered my question.

Well, I needed to leave before I started to ask more questions and ended up here all night. I wasn’t sure even the cog could keep me going if I ended up with three nights in a row with little-to-no sleep. I got up, edging around Dot. “You three are some of the most mind-boggling people I’ve ever met. That’s a compliment,” I added as an after-thought.

They grinned like I just told them they were the best kids in the whole world. “Aww, shucks,” Wakko said.

“You heading out? I can drop you and save you time,” Dot offered.

I thought of how the world had spun last time. “That’s okay, I could use some fresh air anyways,” I said opening the front door.

“Okay, be safe. Good night Holly,” Alice said. She stood up and hugged me. It was like a warm blanket. I couldn’t help but smile. It almost reminded me of the mural in the school. I liked this feeling.  

“I would still feel better if one of us walked ya home,” Finley said. “I’m good to go. A walk is never a bad idea.”

I blinked and shrugged, smiling. “Okay.” I sort of felt like after this whole casino incident that everyone was just a little more on guard than usual. I’d run all over town by myself for a while now, after all. But I didn’t mind walking with Finley.

When we walked out the door, I immediately noticed that there were more people on the street than usual on a night like this. Young and old children skipped down the street every few feet, dressed up in costumes and talking and walking together in small groups.

“It’s Halloween,” I suddenly realized, looking at Finley. “I’d totally forgotten.”

The fox laughed. “I think we’ve seen enough scares for another year. Too bad, I’m sure Bendy would be able to get a ton of candy.”

That set me off laughing. I wiped away a tear as I envisioned the image of Bendy walking around with a bunch of kids in costume. “Don’t let him hear you say that. I don’t think he’ll like you mentioning the fact that he can pass as a kid.”

Finley snorted. “You forget I do too.” I blinked. I sort of _had_ forgotten. “Though.” He smirked. “I’m two inches taller than him.”

That made me laugh again. Just then, an adult cat and dog walked by with a little kitten in a witch costume. She swung her pail of candy happily as she walked. What a cute little kitten. She’d never have a problem with wearing a witch costume. I sighed. Another year. Another missed Halloween. Why did I miss it every year?

“You know, speaking of strange things that happen on Halloween, I have the funniest story from last year.” Well, the worst bit of luck really.

“Yeah?” Finley smiled. “I had a concerned parent wanting to return me to my family or call over a cop. She thought my overalls were a costume.”

I snorted. “I’m so sorry? That must be a bother at times.”

“Her face when she realized I was an adult was worth it.” Finley smirked and wiggled an eyebrow.

I spluttered and laughed. I nodded, grinning. “That is a awesome story, but it’s not as weird as mine,” I said with an eyebrow bob of my own. “You see last year my roommate invited me to a Halloween party with a group of her friends. At first, I sort of didn’t want to go.” I shrugged. “But secretly I think the idea of dressing up is a lot of fun. So in the end, I told her yes.”

Finley nodded for me to continue.

“I decided to go as a witch. I even got some special little spider earrings. Halfway to the party though, I ran into a group of _real_ witches. They mistook me for one of them.” I shook my head and shuddered. “And promptly kidnapped me to their annual Black Witches Rights Convention.”

“What?” He laughed. “What happened?”

I shook my head. “It was interesting. I spent the night stuck in next to a lady with frizzy hair and her two sisters. The Sanderson sisters. One of them was thin, wore a lot of make-up and has long, pale hair about this long.” I motioned, showing him the length. “And the other had black hair in a messy bun. They sat there and talked about how Halloween is politically designed to give them bad publicity and how they should go out and turn all the city council members and lawyers in Toon Town into frogs and newts.”

Finley laughed. “Did they spell anyone?”

“Well, at first I thought they were. I was totally petrified, but then one of them mentioned bringing spider cookies, and they all seemed to forget about it.” I shook my head. “In the end, it was like being at a big old home...for slightly cryptic, elderly ladies. They talked about the benefits of toad cream and how to grow the biggest warts.”

Finley pulled a face of disgust. “You’re kidding.”

I shook my head, snickering. “No. And even though it wasn’t meant to be, it was one of the most interesti--” Nope that wasn’t even close to being true anymore, “--a very interesting night. I still visit some of them when the occasion allows. They really are lonely things. Avoid the spider cookies if you’re ever offered them, though. They’re called that for a reason.”

“Oh man, sounds like you lead a very interesting life, Holly.” Finley chuckled. “Friends with demons and wolves, hanging out with witches, chasing mobsters. You could be trouble.” He joked.

I scrunched my face. “Well, when you put it that way…” I raised my brow at him. “We’re all trouble. You and Sammy went through a car chase, right? In the middle of a big police raid too.”

Finley grinned, showing off his fangs. “True. Lot of people thought we were doing some questionable stuff before that. But after,” he clicked his tongue, “you’d think we were part of the mob. Luckily, it’s not illegal that we are friends to an infamous duo.” He winked.

I snorted. “Thank goodness or a lot of people would be in jail.”

Just then, I saw the edge of my apartment building. Well, Alice’s, but I didn’t know what to make of that right now. Alice had promptly passed out after we'd taken the three unconscious questers to the infirmary. I looked at Fin. “Well, this is it. Thank you for walking me back, Fin.”

“Sure thing. It was a nice walk. You have a good night sweets.” Finley smiled.

I saluted him. “You too, Fin.” With that, I walked back into the building.


	69. November 1, Tuesday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay everyone, two things.  
> First, this had been an interesting week. At first I meant to post this on Tuesday, but then I started adding and rewriting some things. I wasn't finished. Then it was Wednesday. I wasn't finished. Then it was Thursday...and life just kept on moving on faster than I anticipated. :D I'm still going to do my gosh darndest to try and have the next entry up by the time we post the main story tomorrow, but who knows what'll happen.  
> Second, and please read this, you might see some things in this entry or the next that might strike you as odd. Me and Tap wanted to leave it as a bit of a surprise for anyone who is only reading the main story. So, as a favor to both of us, don't mention anything suspicious you see here in the main story comments. _Wink._ It's our little secret. Anyways, have fun!

November 1, Tuesday

I woke up after five hours of sleep.

It wasn’t like I was feeling restless or it had gotten light outside. It wasn’t like anyone was being noisy. I just...couldn’t sleep anymore. When I got out of bed, I was wide awake too, not bleary-eyed or anything. I had been staring at the ceiling for a little while.

So, at four in the morning I was wide awake. I didn’t have to go to Betty’s until at least seven, so I got up and ate breakfast. I sat at the table for a while, trying in vain to concentrate on the books before me. They all felt useless, pointless. Tiny frivolous spells with weak, barely impactful effects. They even didn't go far enough to detail to help me understand how the spells were formed. 

I remembered the archive of Yen Sid library. 

I probably could find all sorts of useful spells to help solve our problems there. It was four thirty. If I made my way into the library, no one would ever see me. I searched through the spell book again, I searched for one that would help me. To my delight, I found a useful spell. It was called 'Blank.' It made one invisible, much more powerful than fade, and ensuring that I wouldn't be seen.

With that, I left the apartment, casting the spell. To my surprise, I found that I couldn't even see myself. I almost tripped a few times, but because the streets were basically deserted, I had little problem. When I came to the doors of the library, I didn't bother with trying to unlock the door with a spell. It would take too much time, and I didn't have the patience. I crushed with a spell I wrote on the door and pushed the library door open. 

When I'd worked at the school, I'd always been interested in the school archive. But the older, more ancient and dangerous manuscripts were guarded jealously by the librarian and the school preservian. I'd petitioned for permission to look at some of the classified materials several times, but I'd been denied over and over again.

Well, this was for the good of all the Ink Illness victims. They would just have to deal with me looking through the collection. I'd brought a spatula with me and when I reached the back door and broke the knob there too. I drew the rune ‘Light’ on a spatula and entered the blackened room, its bright, white light illuminating the room. 

There was a specific spell I was looking for. In my research I'd heard rumors of it multiple times. You see, reader, although people who have used runes in the past are rare, we're not extinct. There is a tribe of trolls that practice rune magic far in the north. And there are even people like a pirate named James Hook who'd discovered and attempted a rune spell once and had trapped his crew on a distant island in the stars when it'd failed.

But one of the most prolific rune users in the past after the fall of the Micco was Queen Grimhilde. The evil queen who had tried to kill Snow White before her career as an actress.

I sucked in a heavy breath as I flipped the old leather simply book entitled, "Black Magic." I paused and blinked. There was a small, barely audible part of me that whispered that something was wrong. My head felt light. I flipped the book open and pages through it, and as I found the page in Grimhilde's personally written spellbook, the potential at my fingertips suddenly felt so much more real. My fingers lingered on the edge of the page as I stared at it, and unconsciously the tips of my teeth touched my lips. Did I really want to do this? 

On the page was the picture of an elaborate mirror. Engraven all along the edges were runes and a queen stood in front of it imperiously. Queen Grimhilde had been a woman with an amazing mind, a brilliant chemist, so practiced that she only needed runes and a chemical concoction to change her own appearance. She'd designed her own runes and altered spells with great accuracy. Unfortunately, she'd also been vain. I grimaced. It saddened me that her fall had been because of something as silly as being jealous of a younger, more beautiful woman. 

I felt another prick at the back of my mind as I studied the spell I'd been looking for. Was using the magic designed by a woman like Grimhilde safe? Did it make me like her?

But at the same time, it fascinated me. Among other things, she'd been able to watch people from afar, know truths about the world that would take years to find under normal circumstances. I'd never had the potential of doing such a thing, much less the access to it. Despite all the practice I put in my runes, the strength of my magic had always grown very slowly. If I tested this spell, if it worked, in the future, I could ensure for myself that the Cup brothers were really genuine in their friendship with Bendy and Boris. And...It had been a very long time since I'd seen my mother. 

I shifted, closing the book. I would do it. For everyone. Sliding the book into my back, I walked out of the library again, still invisible. It was nearly five thirty by the time I made my way back into the house. As I opened the front door and walked into the kitchen, Snowball bounced onto the table, movements erratic, eyes half open. She squeaked at me nervously. "Want to see something interesting, Snow?" I whispered. 

The queen's spell summoned a mirror spirit. She had captured her mirror spirit and sealed it in the mirror because she knew that as a part of their nature, they couldn't lie. That made them a great asset to her. It could make a great asset to me. Unfortunately even with this book, I saw no sign of what technique she had used to permanently keep the spirit trapped in her mirror. It was a shame for multiple reasons, because whatever she had done seemed to have nullified the cost of asking a mirror spirit for a favor as well. In exchange for one experience, the answer to one question, the mirror spirit required something of equal worth in exchange. A bit of knowledge lost. Or a memory. Potentially a high price depending on what the mirror spirit asked for. Snowball leaned down, sniffing the edge of the book's pages. She wrinkled her nose, and rolled off the book, giving out another squeak. 

I picked up the book, rising from the table. "Using the Evil Queen's magic doesn't make me anything like her Snow. You worry too much. Nothing bad happened with the map or Bendy's doll, remember." I paused. "Well, nothing bad happened with the doll when someone isn't trying to misuse it." 

Snowball gave me an unconvinced squeak and scrambled up my shoulder as I walked back into my bedroom. I had a little vanity mirror next to the door, to the right of my bookshelves. I sat down and spread the book on the top, lighting my spatula torch once again. 

"Okay," I muttered. "Let's see how this works." I decided to use chalk. Unlike the evil queen, I didn't intend to go about spying on people for the rest of my life. I glanced at the book and then at the mirror. Slowly, I wrote out the runes in a circle round my reflection. When I finished, I dusted off my hands and closed the book. I started to reach for my magic. Snowball chose that moment to take a leaping bound and land on my head. Cross-eyed, I looked up at her. "What do you think you're doing?"

Snowball sighed as if to say that if I was going to do something so strange then she would just have to stay right there to guard me. I smirked at her. "If that makes feel better, fuzz ball." I activated the spell, the runes around the mirror brightening. 

Nothing happened. 

I stared at the mirror for a moment and then jerked straight. Oh right, this sort of spell required me to make a direct summon. "S-Slave," my voice cracked on the first word, "in the magic mirror, come from the farther space," Snowball perked up on my head, giving another small uneasy squeak, "through wind and darkness I summon thee." My head suddenly felt light and I paused, pressing a hand to it. No, I needed to finish. "Speak. Let me see thy face."

My reflection disappeared and the inside of the mirror burst into flame. I scrambled back, my chair clattering to the floor, Snowball jumped, hitting the ceiling and bouncing rapidly around the room as she spun out of control. The flames died quickly and smoke replaced it. It was all grey for a moment, and then a face slowly rose to the surface. No hair, no body. He had thin lips, frown lines and gaunt eyes. "What wouldst thou know, my queen?" he asked, expression never changing, voice as lifeless as if he'd never felt an emotion.  

Snowball's eyes spun as she finally landed on my bed and rolled. I looked at her and turned back, hesitating. "Um, could I see my mother?" I asked.

The face stared at me in silence. Ancient tongue, I needed to make a formal request. Spirits were known to be particular. I swallowed and thought for a moment. "Magic mirror in front of me, show me how my mother may be."

The face stared at me for a moment, and I worried that I'd missed something else important, but then he spoke. "For you to have your way, there is a price to pay."

The mirror shimmered and changed. Suddenly I was looking at myself. I was sitting at the desk at the school. For a moment, I didn't recognize the memory. Then, two unmistakable figures appeared. Bendy and Boris. This was my memory of meeting them for the first time.

I bit my lip. It was a bit pricey just for a glimpse of my mother, but it wasn't like it was a memory that would cripple me if I forgot it. Taking out a piece of paper, I wrote down what the memory was. Then I looked up at the mirror spirit's face again. "Very well." The face disappeared and the mirror brightened with the barest tips of dawn light.     

 The image was hazy at first, but then it cleared. A fence, flowers beyond it. The distant, almost invisible seagulls flapping about as they headed towards the sea shore. 

And the house. The familiarity of it brought my heart to my throat. It was made of sharp, sensible lines. There were no embellishments, just an angled roof and a house that was wide as it was deep. I caught a glimpse of the window to my old room on the second floor before I noticed my mother turning the key to lock the front door. 

I blinked and swallowed again. She was just like she was when I'd left. She stood with a pencil straight posture, wearing a simple full length dress with a collar. Her hair was in a tight bun. 

 She turned from the door and walked briskly across the yard to the fence. She whistled shrilly and a horse came bounding towards her, practically bouncing. She stepped up on the fence and slid on, guiding him to the gate and opening it. Squeezing his sides, she leaned forward and they disappeared down the road. 

My eyes followed them. I wondered for a moment whether this was really the right thing to do, simply watch and never really go there but suddenly my head hollow, it was as if a bunch of cotton had been stuck inside. I couldn't think. It was just so...light.

For a few minutes I blinked there, waiting for my head to clear. By the time it did, the image had faded to black and the disconnected head was in front of me again. 

Wait. Wait a second! I wasn't finished! I grabbed the mirror and Snowball meeped from the bed. I glance at her, brows down and turned back to press my fingers into the glass. Nothing. The runes around it had died. And my head was getting light again. I sunk back into my chair. I wanted to use the mirror again. Ask it if the cups were really our allies, but my head just felt too light. Maybe I did need some more sleep. 

I lay in bed for another thirty minutes, but didn't actually end up sleeping. Frustrated, I got up and arrived at work early. Snowball sulked on her little pillow as I worked the register. She'd giving me many scolding sounds after the incident this morning. I'd apologized, but she didn't seem satisfied. Finally, when the late afternoon came around, I bid Betty a goodbye and headed to Granny’s house. I wanted to see how Bendy and the others were doing. Then, I would go home and try the mirror spell again. 

When I knocked on the door it was Sammy who opened it.

He nodded to me and gave me a small smile.

I gave him a small wave and walked in. “How are you doing, Sammy?”

“Good. It’s been...something here.” He eyed the hall. A ball of...mash potatoes? Flew out of the kitchen and hit the wall. I was getting a Warners feeling.

“Warners!” Granny’s voice rang out. Looks like I was correct. “Out! Out! Out of my kitchen!” Wakko dived for the carpet. He raced out the door, his mouth stuffed. Yakko ran behind him, arms full of apples, cackling. He took the time to wink at me as he ran by.

Well, obviously they had been left unoccupied too long. I couldn’t help but snort and laugh a little as they disappeared down the hall.

I waved at Granny as she appeared at the kitchen doorway. “Hi Granny.”

She had flour on her cheek and some stains on her aprons. She had a rolling pin in hand. She was ready to do battle. She adjusted her thick glasses and smiled. “Good mornin,’ dear.”

“You are a miracle worker, you know that?” I shut the door behind me.

The old woman laughed. She waved her hand and shook her head.

I looked at Sammy. “Have they woken yet?”

His ears fell, and he shook his head. “Fin’s worried. Boris hasn’t left the room except for breakfast. And that’s because Granny wouldn’t take the food up to the room. She made Mugs bring him down.”

I considered that and nodded slowly. “Do you know how Alice is doing?”

Sammy smiled. “She was cleaning up the backyard for Granny. They need to prepare things for winter and the comin’ spring. She seems really happy.”

That made me smile. “I’m glad she’s doing better.” I nodded. “Thanks Sammy.” With that, I waved to him and headed up the stairs to where Boris was watching the others. Knocking softly before entering, I peeked inside.

He was sitting in a chair next to Bendy’s bed. He had a big book on his lap that had a picture of a castle on it. He looked up as the door opened.

Walking in, I pulled up a chair. “Hey Boris. How are you doing?”

“Alright,” he said. He turned the page. A picture of rolling hills was on it. Scotland. A world travel book? “I’ve always thought we’d be in Sillyvision, but after all the traveling we’ve done, I wonder if we’ll actually go to places like this next,” he said.

“Scotland would certainly be pretty. There are so many shades there.” 

Boris chuckled. “I was trying to find stories on demons. Anything useful. I found a few in England. Some real old ones. There were some in Asia.” He pulled a confused face, wrinkling his snout. “But they were really weird, so I stuck to England.” He sighed. “They didn’t help, so I got distracted.”

I snorted. “I agree that the demons in Asia are unique. Have you looked at Slavic demons?”

Boris tilted his head in that very dog-like way of his. “Slavic? No.”

I nodded. “I found references to a Slavic demon by the name of Chernabog. I’ve been busy with researching other things, though, so I wasn’t able to dig very deep. The book I found on him seemed to be the most factual one out of what I looked through. Well, to a certain extent. Some of it was just strange.”

Boris put down his book, ears perked.

I settled into my seat, imaging the pages I’d read. “According to multiple accounts from the Slavic people, Chernabog is called ‘The God of the Night.’ He remains hidden most of the year but has followers that visit him once a year on Walpurgis Night.” I figured it might be best if I left out the part where Chernabog threw his followers into a volcano during Walpurgis. It didn’t seem very helpful.

Boris pursued his lips. “Seems a lot of demons either make some kinda deal, like that Mephisto guy… or they have followers. Why is that?” He blinked and shook his head. “From what Mugman has said, Black Hat does both.”

I shrugged. “Maybe something about connecting that way with people gives demons power. Bendy wouldn’t know since he’s never done anything like that.”

Boris gave Bendy a worried glance. I frowned at him as well. “Well...he has gotten a lot of new friends and support he’s never had before. Can ‘followers’ and ‘friends’ have a common link? Maybe that’s what happened back at the cliffs? He was protecting us after all.”

I raised my brows. “That’s a very interesting theory.” It’d be a hard one to prove, though. Unless something else like that happened again.

His ears fell, and he looked down at his hands. “I just wanna help Bendy. He doesn’t know what happened either, and that has be scary. But he’ll put it aside because he’ll want to focus on other things. He also hates how the world views him.” Boris sighed. “Looking into this stuff upsets him, even if he tries to hide it.” He looked up at me. “That’s why I wanna do it for him, but...I’m not very good at studying. Bendy had to teach me how to read and do numbers. I don’t know where to begin with something like this.”

I put a hand on his shoulder. “Boris, I think you are doing a wonderful job. Research like this is very difficult in the first place. I’m sure if we keep on looking we’ll find something. I mean, a minute ago we didn’t have any theories and now we have one idea.” I had to admit researching was the worst at times. You leafed through page after page in book after book, never knowing if you were going to find what you were looking for. But one thing I’d learned was that you found many other important and interesting things along the way.

Boris huffed. “I just wish there were clear answers instead of guesses. I mean, when we went to the library back home to learn about wolves and why I was so restless on full moon nights, it was easy!” He crossed his arms. “I also think Bendy doesn’t want me looking into this stuff because he doesn’t want me to learn something that might scare me.” The wolf rolled his eyes. I had to hide a smile. He was so adorable. “Like I’d ever be scared of my brother.” He frowned and looked at Bendy again. “The only thing that scares me is losing him, whether it’s to a weird change or sickness. Why doesn’t he get that?” Boris frowned. He didn’t say it but the word ‘idiot’ was strongly implied.

I shook my head. “He’s lucky to have a brother like you.”

Boris smirked. “Tell him that.”

I laughed. “Oh, Boris, I think he knows.”

Boris smiled before looking back at Bendy, then glancing behind him at Cuphead and Felix. “I feel pretty useless lately.”

I gave him a confused look. “Whatever for?”

His ears fell. “I don’t have super strength or a finger gun. I don’t have a magic bag or powers. I can’t use runes, and I don’t have time to study something like that.” (Good because I was fairly sure Bendy would kill me if I tried to introduce something as unpredictable as runes to Boris.) “I was useless against that mermaid, and I’m sure I would have been even worse against Black Hat. Everyone has just been protecting me, and I haven’t been able to do anything.” He made a disgruntled sound in the back of his throat. “I asked Mugs to teach me some self defense.”

“...And?”

Boris frowned. “Doctor Oddswell sent him and Finley to shop for dinner. I think we start this evening?” Boris shrugged. “I just don’t wanna be a burden.”

I looked at Boris and thought for a moment. “Hey, Boris. How old are you?”

He blinked, his ears stayed down even as his brow knit together. “Fourteen, but I’ll be fifteen in spring.”

I quirked my mouth. “And how long did you work at that mechanic shop?”

He blinked. He looked to the ceiling as he counted. “Five years? About. We took a few months with Ol’ Turney and Jack to learn enough so Pete would hire us.”

I choked on my own spit and started coughing. “ _Five_ years?” My coughs turned into laughter.

Boris frowned. “What? What’s funny? We had to run from the orphanage and the cops! The only other things we did was steal food and scavenge.” He blinked. “And...fix a few things in the junkyard to sell.”

When I finally got a hold of myself, I wiped away a tear. “Boris. You’re a child _genius_. When I was nine years old I was still running around barefoot with the local boys trying to see if I could light things on fire with a rune.”

He glanced down at his bare paws. “Genius?”

“You are the farthest thing from useless that I can think of.” I shook my head. “You need to stop comparing their strengths with your weaknesses. There’s plenty you can do. Just look at your strengths.”

Boris was already shaking his head before I finished. “Bendy is _way_ better than I am. I’m still learning. He could put a car together blindfolded. And you’ve gone to _college._ I’ve never seen a classroom in my life!”

This sort of irritated me. I stuck a finger under his nose. “Boris B-Brother Wolf, those things _don’t matter_ one smidgen. Just because someone’s got more knowledge, doesn’t mean you have none. Just because someone has different experiences than you, doesn’t mean they’re smarter.” I rubbed my head, chagrined. “Honestly, I’ve learned more in the last month of being out of college than I learned in the first three years.”

Boris went cross-eyed looking at my finger in his face. “Doesn’t matter?” He blinked and looked past my finger to my face. “If they don’t matter, why are the college people paid so much better than? If you learned more out of college...then why do they call it an ‘education’?” It looked like I blew his mind. “Isn’t that where everyone wants to go to learn things for better work? Isn’t it the same as with Jack and Turney?”

I sighed, lowering my finger. He'd missed my point. “Boris, there haven’t always been colleges, right? But people built them so learning things would be more convenient and it’d be easier to prove that a person has the right knowledge. It’s not the only place you can get it, though. College is useful and important, but you can do so much more than just go to college.” I snorted. “I never planned to stop learning even when I graduated.”

Boris did that cute head tilt again. “The...right knowledge? Is there a wrong knowledge?”

I laughed. “No, no, I meant that for many jobs, going to college proves that you know what you’re doing.” I thought about how many things just weren’t certain in archeology. “Mostly. There are many fields that are expanding because even the experts are constantly learning new things. Like with runes. Other than a few people in the fields, it’s become a pretty dead art.” Which saddened me.

“Dead? Why is it dead? What happened?” Boris’ ears were up and curiosity shined in his eyes.

I clicked my tongue. “The main people who used runes in the past were the Micco and the angels. The angels have their own special symbols, and the Micco were wiped out. So, there are still simple ones that passed to other races, but the more practiced users never passed on their knowledge.” I put my head in a hand, pouting. “It’s a shame really. And because trying to homeschool yourself in using them is unpredictable and sometimes, many people are scared of trying to research them.”

Bendy blinked. “Like the symbols on the map? And in the temple in the swamps?”

I nodded. “Exactly.”

“Those are Micco?” Boris asked.

I nodded. “Yes.”

“Can you teach me how to read them?” Boris asked. His tail started to wag. “I won’t do the magic. I wouldn’t know where to start with that, but maybe if I can read them, we can avoid traps!” He inhaled. “I mean, I know we have Felix, but it can’t hurt!”

I blinked. Then, I grinned. “That’s a brilliant idea!” Boris’ face lit up.

A thought popped into my head. “In fact, I have an idea of how we could start that.” I leaned down and looked through my bag. “You see, just after all of you returned, I finished translating the page Bendy gave me. I know you two went through this before, but I was thinking I could show you the differences and that would help to get you started.”

The door opened. I looked up with Boris to see who it was. Dr. Oddswell stuck his head in. “Ah, Ms. May. There you are. I was told you had arrived.” He glanced at Boris before focusing back on me. “Have you had a chance to look at the new machine piece yet?”

I nodded. “A little when Felix brought it in.” But I couldn’t deny I wanted to see what else it was capable of. The magic I'd done with the mirror astounded me.

He nodded. “It’s in the study. It’s a bit large to hide, so we have it displayed like it’s one of my pieces from a collection. Luckily, it’s a more believable museum piece than a rather new looking doll in the shape of Bendy.” He smirked.

I smiled. That was for sure. Getting up, I moved to stand beside him. “Speaking of which, Professor, have you heard of anyone else coming down with strange symptoms from being around it?”

“No one else has touched it since Felix and Bendy moved it up there,” Oddswell said. “We wanted your and Felix’ opinions first.”

I nodded. “That might be the safest way to handle it. When Felix brought it in, I touched it. Since then, I haven’t run out of magical power. I even used two rather energy draining spells at once this morning and held it for several hours. After, I didn’t even feel tired. Although, I did feel light headed. So, I think coming in contact with it definitely does something.”

The doctor blinked. “Are you okay?” he asked.

I shrugged. “The light-headedness went away quickly. Other than that, I haven’t had any noticeable negative side effects.”

Oddswell frowned. “And neither has Mugman, I’ve noticed. Though, he said there was a ache this morning, so he thinks whatever is happening is wearing off.” The lizard tapped his snort. “I wonder if it’s an exposure situation. Direct contact...but it didn’t effect Bendy or Felix.” He hummed.

I clicked my tongue. “That is strange. I was thinking of looking at the cog more, but I wanted your opinion on whether you think that would be safe.” I remembered Finley’s doubt yesterday. It had made me back off a little. Simply testing runes involved with these items had been dangerous. Who knew what the cog was capable of?

“With your and Mugman’s reactions so far, I don’t think it will be a problem, but you must be aware of any changes. Anything different and I want you to leave it,” Dr. Oddswell said.

I nodded. “I’ll be sure to mention any changes at all.”

“Good.” He nodded. “Let me know if you find anything.”

I smiled. “Oh, if I find anything, you’ll be the first one to know.” I looked back at Boris. “If you want, I could leave my translation and the page for you to look at.”

He wagged his tail a little. “That’d be swell!”

I nodded, going back to my bag and pulling out the translation as well as the page. I handed them to him. “Good luck, Boris.” I smiled. He took it with a smile and a nod.

“You too!” He said.

With that, I followed Oddswell out of the room. He showed me in and stood to the side. The cog was on a simple pedestal that tilted it slightly with a light over it. It was next to a vase and a slab of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

My eyes lit up. I moved a chair next to the pedestal and looked over the surface again for the symbol that had been there before. Finding it, I couldn’t help but wonder again how the part had been made, where the other runes had gone. I blinked a moment later. Well, simply being near or touching it had some something strange to my magic before. What would happen if I touched it again and used my magic?

I looked at Oddswell. “Professor, is there anything physical that would be convenient to have done right now?” I nibbled my lip. “Like some of the processing the pills go through?”

Doctor Oddswell narrowed his eyes. “Interesting. If we had a surplus, I would greatly enjoy an experiment but sadly we don't at this time. Instead, how about you create those Joy bracelets instead? Do you need materials? Is that a possible replacement?”

I shrugged. “The Joy bracelets don’t need me to activate them. I wanted to test how much power I’ve gotten since coming in contact with the cog. Even using magic to do some basic manual action would help the testing.”

“Weaving bracelets isn’t a manual action?” Oddswell asked with a gleam of amusement in his eyes.

I raised my brows. “Oh, so we’re weaving the runes into them now?” 

Oddswell shrugged. “The task is to test the cog and your power. It can be something basic and beneficial without big risks.”

I thought about that and nodded. “That makes sense. Let’s go get the materials then.”

Oddswell nodded. He left and returned with strips of silk. Light but very hard to break.

While he was gone, I had formulated a simple spell that combined three different movement spells together. I had Oddswell lay the pile of strips on his desk before I went to the cog and touched it again.

It was like getting hit with a fresh wave of air. I wasn’t tired before, but now I was suddenly ten times more awake and aware. The world around me practically hummed with unused energy. Letting out a breath, I took a step to go to the desk and write the spell.

Before I another step, before I even leave let go of the cog, a burst of gold lit up the air above the strips of cloth. I blinked. It was a...rune? I watched in wonder as I felt magic move through me as more runes appeared in the empty air, forming a circle and then combining together into a full spell. Oddswell blinked and turned to watch the spell and me.

The strips started to move themselves. Like slithering snakes they slipped past one another.

I drew in a slow, careful breath. I hadn’t--The runes just--Could I make them go faster? A small, curious smile formed on my face, and I pushed more energy into the spell hovering over the strips. The cloth whipped with motion and even slide to the side into a neat pile. The Joy rune appeared on each bracelet and in less than a minute and within three minutes the enormous pile of cloth that had been sitting on the table was gone. I looked at Oddswell with wide eyes. “That...was amazing. The runes just showed up there!!”

“Was it your doing?” Oddswell asked. “Or the cogs?”

I blinked. “It was my spell...but I didn’t mean to. I just started to think about the runes, and it was like the cog took that thought and instantly formed the spell.”

“Interesting.” The professor approached the cog but didn’t touch it. “Have you figured out what it does, then? It has some connection to your magic, but it didn’t do that for Mugman.”

I frowned. “Well, the page mentioned something about how the cog changes reality. And it seemed to just take my thought and actualize it.” I thought for a moment. “What if Mugman was hurting when he came in contact with the cog and his desire was to stop feeling the pain?” I looked at the large object. “What if it makes people’s desires a reality?”

Oddswell lifted a brow. He hummed thoughtfully. “Interesting.”

I thought a moment more. “It would make sense. Bendy wanted to protect the others, and then he transformed. If it gave him the power to do that…” I looked at the cog and frowned. “This thing has unlimited potential, but unlimited danger too. If someone with malicious desires came into contact with it, terrible things would be possible.”

“Hm, yes, but it doesn’t seem to grant anything I have thought of, and I am unwilling to touch it to see if physical contact is needed,” Oddswell said. “And if it was that easy, wish up a cure. Right now.” The lizard narrowed his eyes. “If it grants wishes like that, we don’t even need the rest of the machine.”

I blinked. “You’re right.” I touched the cog and thought hard.

Nothing happened.

I frowned and turned back to where Oddswell was watching me with intense eyes. “I tried.”

He frowned. “Now, what could this all mean?” His tongue flicked.

I shook my head. “More tests.”

In the next hour I managed to make about four hundred Joy bracelets, summon an enormous assortment of herbs and roots needed for the pills, and rearrange all the objects in Oddswells study so that they were alphabetically ordered. I tried desiring other things like for the pills to be finished already, for the injured to wake up, and for more knowledge on demons or how ink illness worked, but each time, nothing happened.

At some point, that feeling of lightheadedness returned. I'm not sure when. I didn't notice. When I mentioned it to Oddswell, he had us stop the experiments immediately. The more I think about it, I wouldn't really describe it as a feeling of lightheadedness but something else. Something even now I can’t put a word to. Just a strange feeling. I’ll admit though, I could feel the difference when I stopped touching the cog. It was like I had been flying and had touched the ground again.

“That’s enough for today, Miss May. We now know there are limitations, but we still don’t know much beyond that. It seems to be one big magic battery for you though. I will have to share these findings with Felix when he awakens,” Oddswell said.

“Which will be soon hopefully,” I muttered.

He smiled. “Be careful today. You did a lot of magic. We still don’t know the risks.”

I waved a hand. “Yes. Don’t overdo it. I get it.” I stood up and walked to the door. With one last look at the cog, I went downstairs.

There Mugman and Finley were sitting with Sammy, Granny, and Boris. I heard singing in the kitchen. Snow came in with a plate of cookies and a smile. Alice walked in from the back. She had dirt on her hands and a smile on her face. “The garden is done, Granny Gopher.”

“Thank you, dear!” the old gopher smiled. “Now, clean up and join us for dinner.” She turned to the stairs. “Oh Holly! Good, just in time.”

I smiled. “I’m glad, because I’m starving.”

“How’d it go? You were gone a long time,” Boris asked.

I sat down with a sigh. “We found out things. I think that the cog somehow locks onto a person’s desire, but if you think something directly at it nothing happens.” I frowned. “Maybe it has to be a really strong desire?” I blinked. “And when I touch the cog, I can use magic without having to write the runes.”

“Uh, sounds berries.” Mugs shrugged and winced. “Maybe I should go poke it again.”

Boris frowned. “No! Just let yourself heal. If ya can’t feel the pain, you’ll just hurt yourself again.”

Mugs sighed and nodded. Alice leaned into the room, she was clean and practically glowing. “Do you want me to bring in the pie Granny?”

“No dear, that’s for tomorrow. It’s still cooling,” Granny said.

“Okay.” She came in and sat next to me with a smile. “Sounds like you’ve had a little turn around in your work today, Holly.” She giggled.

I grinned at her. “I can’t wait to see just what might be possible. I’m really excited.”

“I’ll gear up for a surprise,” she promised. I blinked and then chuckled. “Oh! And are you still hosting the Tiptials? Everyone told me about their apartment.”

I nodded. “They found another apartment this afternoon, though.”

She smiled. “That’s wonderful news! Is it alright for me to come back?”

I laughed. “Of course. It’s your apartment after all.”

“Our.” She filled her plate with food. “Both our names are on the lease after all.” She winked. “Face it dear, you’re rooming with an angel.”

I picked up another plate and moved to do the same. “Does that mean when someone calls the apartment and you pick up the phone you’re going to say, ‘Halo?’”

She laughed. “Not if I want to keep my secret.”

I stopped and grinned at her. “They would never know.”

Sammy fidgeted. “Is it really a good idea to risk it?”

Finley chuckled. “The only people that’d get it would already know, Sammy! It’s fine.” Sammy’s weary glance didn’t seem to agree.

“Holly, I have one more question. And you too Alice.” Boris suddenly spoke up. Alice turned toward him. “I want to know more about the Angel/Demon War.” I blinked. What was this about?

Alice’s smile fell a little. “The War?” The wolf nodded in answer. “Dear, that was a long time ago.”

“I just thought that if I want to know more about demons, I need to learn all the history I can about them. The furthest back it goes is the War, right?” Boris glanced between me and Alice.

I shrugged. “Sometime after it, actually. Most of the record that have been pieced together comes from fifty to a hundred years after it.” I sat down with a plate and stabbed a fork into a rather large piece of broccoli. I looked at Alice. “Unless the angels have more records.”

Alice shifted a little. “Well, we do, but they’re sealed right now.” I knew it. I’d been wondering about that ever since I overheard the phone call between Alice and those other angels.

He turned to Alice. “Why are they sealed?”

Alice shrugged. “I think they’re worried about civil unrest or sensitive information that could be used against the Upper.”

Boris frowned and glanced at me. Civil unrest? That implied that if people read those records, there could be people angry enough to get violent. It made me want to find those records and read them even more.

“What is civil unrest?” Boris asked.

“It means people could get angry and start fighting,” Alice explained.

“Why? Didn’t it happen a long time ago? Why would they want to fight now?” Boris asked.

Alice glanced at me and bit her lip. “Hard to say. The War split the world, so that means the demons had convinced others to be their allies.” They had? How? I tried to imagine what sort of creatures would side with an army of demons. Well, it would make sense if you thought they would be on the winning side. Demonic power had to be amazing if Bendy was anything to go by. But the real question was, what had the conflict been about in the first place? There were many reasons for other races to fight depending on that. 

“I’d guess that it’s information that would still be relevant today, despite being hundreds of years old.” I glanced at Alice. “Are you saying there might have been some sort of consequence for those who sided with the demons?”

Alice blinked. “That’s what I’ve been taught.” She nodded. “The demons were banished to the netherworld and their allies were cursed. Vampires, zombies, werewolves, mummies, the Kraken, gorgons, banshee and a number of others. We call them monsters today. They have become creatures of darkness because they sided with demons in the War.” My mouth opened a little. All those creatures had been allies of the demons? Once again, I wondered what had been in it for them. What could bring such a wide variety of creatures together to cooperate. There was so much magic in each of those races.  

Boris and Mugman frowned.

“That’s pretty heavy stuff,” Finley said.

Alice nodded. “Most of them have disappeared from the world, hunted, in hiding, or simply died off.”

True. Some toons thought that wolfs and werewolves were the same thing. It seemed wrong that such amazing creatures should have been destroyed so thoroughly. “Extinction is a pretty harsh consequence for siding with the wrong ally.”

“I was taught that the consequence if we had lost would have been far greater,” Alice said gravely. But that didn't mean the angels had needed to wipe them off the face of the earth when  _they_ had won. They were supposed to be angels. But after hearing and seeing more and more. I was questioning the goodness of angels.

Boris blinked, hands together. “What would they have done?” I straightened up to listen.

“Besides widespread killing and eventual extinction, enslavement, curses, and madness. It’s said the Devil was a master of breaking minds, but the worst is the soul.” Breaking minds? Breaking souls? I lingered on the words she said, wondering how that worked. How could one even break a soul? And why did the Devil care to do it?

“The soul?” Mugman gulped.

Alice nodded grimly. “They say that demons ate the souls of those that they defeated to become stronger.” Mugs paled. I blinked, my thoughts lost in a shimmer of surprise. Sammy hunched in his seat. I wondered why eating a soul would make a demon more powerful. But then it hit me. The soul is where the magic of many creatures came from. If Demons were magically based beings then maybe they had the ability to absorb others magic. That was...interesting. They could have unlimited power. Just like the cog. A question in my mind suddenly clicked into place. The Micco were a people like me, without great power. How could  _they_ have made something like the cog, like the doll. What if they'd been made on soul power? 

“What would that have done?” Boris asked.

“It would make people soulless puppets. They would eat their souls, and then the soulless would go kill their friends and families.” Alice said like it was a ghost story.

“What point would there be in that?” I frowned, folding my arms. Senseless killing did annoy me.

Alice shook her head. “Well, if you’re fighting a war and turn your enemies into allies, then you might turn the tide of the fight. Who would a soldier's friend be but his comrades?” She frowned. “But I’m not sure how much is fact and how much is legend anymore.”

I raised my brows and flicker of a smile came to my face. “That certainly would be a clever tactic.” She nodded an uncertain expression on her face.

Boris crossed his arms. “But why? Why all the fighting?”

“The Devil wanted something the angels had,” Alice said.

“Do you know what?” Mugs asked as he leaned forward.

Alice shook her head. “No one does. Some think that the angels destroyed it to make sure the demons could never obtain it, others think they hid it, and others still believe it was simply power of the angels’ souls that the Devil craved.”

The gears in my head slowly started to turn. Something that could cause a war. Something that the angels had _actually_ _said_ could start a war. Well, that was the map. Which in turn was what lead to the items. What if the war had been about the items we were looking for right now? A rush of excitement ran through me, a little bit like my feet were lifting off the ground. I let out a breath of air, covering the impulse to laugh. These items were powerful enough to cause a war.

Who knew what else was possible with them? I wanted to _see_ them. Just how old was the machine? It really could be the peak of Micco creation, maybe even more. It was the epitome of everything I wanted to learn from the Micco. It was the peak of magical knowledge! I needed to know how they did it. I needed to be able to do it myself.

I stifled another snort. “Whatever the Devil wanted, it must have been something else,” I said, a slight smile winning its way to the surface as I looked at Alice. Suddenly all the opposition made perfect sense.

“Something...else?” Alice raised a brow. The rest of the table looked to me.

I shrugged. “To have angels and demons fighting over it, whatever it was must of have been world changing.” Or reality changing.

“I suppose,” Alice said.

“Golly, that’s a scary thought,” Sammy said. I raised my brow. Really, was there anything that didn’t scare this cat?

I leaned back. Speaking of which, this was a good opportunity to learn a bit more about demons from Boris. “Unless you have any other questions, Boris, I have a question for you.”

Boris perked his ears. “Yeah?”

“Do you know what Bendy likes to do?” I propped my head up on a hand.

“Likes to do?” Boris tilted his head. “Like his hobbies?”

I shook my head. “Before you left, he asked me on a date, remember? I wanted to think of a place he’d enjoy, but I’m not sure what he’d like.” 

“Oh.” Boris looked chagrined. I’m not sure why, but that made me laugh. Alice’s brows rose in surprise.

“You’re going on a date?” she asked.  

I looked at her, tilting my head. “Yes.” Remembering the little things I’d seen in the prison, I watched her closely.

She smiled. “Good luck. I hope you have fun.” It didn’t _seem_ to bother her. Too bad. I liked teasing her.

Boris sighed heavily. “Well, you can’t really do much wrong by Bendy, just survive his terrible flirting.” Finley and Mugs snickered. “He enjoys food, especially bacon soup or something creamy or spicy. There’s dancing, music, walk in the park. A number of things really, but he will always be a sucker for dancing.”

Well, those were all normal. Still, I nodded. “Thanks for the tips,” I said blandly.

We finished up dinner and soon it was getting dark, so Alice and I headed for our apartment. It was strange, having someone to walk with again.

“So, when did you decide to date Bendy? That’s new,” Alice asked with a curious glance. Ah hah! I knew it. She was curious.

I readjusted my bag a little before I spoke. “Well, right before they left to get the cog Bendy mentioned that he wanted us to get to know each other better. I think Bendy’s a good fellow, and I wanted to get to know him more too, so I said yes.” I scanned sideways for her reactions.

She puckered her lips and hummed. “So...your not put off by all the--” She waved her hands a little.

That surprised me. My smile fell. It wasn’t what I’d thought she’d ask about. “By all the what?”

She sighed. “The attention they have on them, the danger that seems to follow them everywhere, and well…” She looked at the ground. She looked...guilty?

“And well what?” She had my full attention now.

She sighed again. “Him being a...demon?” She winced even as she said it.

I blinked several times. We walked in silence for a few minutes. “He’s Bendy, not just some demon. The way I see it, there’s a difference.” I paused. But wait, hadn't I just been thinking about pumping Boris for information on demons because of him. Why had I done that again? The light headedness was returning. The thought was hard to keep hold of so I just answered Alice. “Knowing Bendy as he is, what would worry you?”

“Ugh! I know! I know he is!” She dragged a hand down her face. “It’s just so distracting for me! Him being what he is and me.” She flicked her finger above her head indicating the invisible halo that now hung there. “It’s his energy.”

I hummed. “So you can sense his demonness? What’s that like?” My hands went behind my back and I grabbed one wrist with the other hand. That was very interesting. 

“Well…” she huffed. “It’s pretty much like a chill is in the room, like he’s a black hole that sucks up energy around him? But not quite...like a reverse spotlight? Yeah, more like that. He doesn’t vacuum up the energy around him like Black Hat did. Though…” Her eyes narrowed. “There was something different about him last night. Something with that arua, I didn’t have time to focus on it with the curse upon us. And it’s not strong enough while he’s asleep.” She dropped her shoulders. “I know I shouldn’t be suspicious of him. Like you said, _he’s Bendy_ but part of me is so overly aware of his every shift of mood. I can’t read it with magic, so I have to watch him and guess. And of course his power. I felt like a cornered rabbit with Mr. Hat. It's not so much with Bendy, but it’s still like being in a room with a predator.” She blinked and blushed. “I’m rambling.”

I shrugged. “Personally, I was enjoying your rambling." It was enlightening. "But I get your point. There are things you like about Bendy too, right?”

Alice’s eyes widened. “Oh of course! He is very honorable for a demon. He just wants to be treated fairly and is rather courteous to others. I heard about how he forgave Cuphead and Mugman from the Warners. It’s amazing! I used to think demons were known for holding grudges! Oh! And the way he treats his brother!” Alice smiled warmly. “Those two really love each other. They would go to the end of the earth for one another.”

One side of my mouth pulled back in a frown. “I’m not so sure about those cups myself.” It was getting hard to remain suspicious of Mugman, though. He was just so...nice. Which was annoying when it got in the way of my suspicions.

Alice blinked. “Uh? Oh, you mean the dishes? They seem a bit dirty to you?” She raised a brow and smirked. “Well, they do seem to be carrying around an odd amount of guilt and regret for how young they are...or at least Mugman is. But he seems fine enough.”

“Guilt? Regret?” I frowned. “But you haven’t even met Cuphead yet. He’s been unconscious the entire time you’ve been back.”

“Not when he first came in through the door. It was heavy, really heavy, worse than the other one. I don’t know how he functions!” Alice frowned. “I’m sorta glad he’s asleep right now.”

I stared at her for a moment, thoroughly confused. What was she talking about? “How can you tell he feels guilt?” I barely finished speaking when it hit me. Alice had said she could read emotions...when she had her halo! I waved a hand. “Strike that. I remember why.” It did suddenly make me uncomfortable to remember that now she could sense everything I felt.

She tapped her fingertips together and glanced at me. “I hope we can still be friends. I try not to stick my nose into other people’s business. It’s just hard when they are such strong emotions.” She bit her lip. “I mean, _I_ almost felt crushed by his guilt. It’s not like I’m going to ask him about it. I don’t know him, and it’s rude. If he ever wants to talk about it, sure. But I’m not nosey like that.” She shook her head. “The point is Mugman is happy there; and he does like Boris, so he isn’t lying to us about that. I think we can trust them.”

I let out a long breath. “Of course we can still be friends. I just...tend to keep thoughts and emotions close, but I trust you, Alice. I like you. You’re about the most trustworthy person I’ve met.” We passed the entrance to the complex. “I guess that does make me feel better about Mugman, but there definitely some things about _what_ they do that don’t make sense to me.”

Alice turned from the complex to me. “Like what?” she asked curiously.

I cleared my throat nervously. “Well, remember when I listened in on Robert Sykes? I heard him talking about how he was supposed to meet with those two. It was after they’d left to get the cog.” I twiddled my fingers as we got to the door. “I figured if they were meeting with those mobsters, they were late. They’d been gone longer than they thought. So, the day they got back, I stuck around and watched their window. They snuck out. I followed them.” I scowled. “And Snowball gave me away.” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “I thought I was doomed but instead that ceramic meat-head hung me from a tree branch.”

Her face dropped in shock. Then she started to laugh. “He what?” I unlocked the door and went inside, Alice right behind me.

Ah, sweet humiliation. I pulled a grimace as she continued to laugh. “Hung me from a tree. Pretty high too. Not something I pictured an assassin doing.”

“What in the world was he thinking? A tree?” She calmed down.

“I’m pretty sure it was something along the lines of ‘she makes a good ornament’ from the smirk on his face when he did it.” I set my bag down next to the couch and sat down.

She covered her face to hide her smile. “Still, going to the Sykes is kinda a big deal, isn’t it? Do the others know they did that?”

I hesitated. “I told Mr. Felix but no one else. So, I ended up hanging around all night. Eventually, they came back and got me down and some crazy _mobsters_ showed up and shot at them while I was with them. Mugman asked me at least not to tell Bendy and Boris because it would worry them. He said they were ‘cutting mob ties.’” I snorted. “Then, I heard him updating Cuphead on the lie. So, I don’t want to trust them, but I have to admit that they keep on surprising me.”

Alice frowned thoughtfully. “Surprising you how?”

I nibbled at my lip, frowning. “When told Felix, Cuphead easily saw through me. I thought I was in trouble, but then he basically told me that I needed to stop doing risky things. Not in a ‘or else I’m gonna make you disappear’ sort of way but in a ‘or you’re going to get yourself in serious trouble, idiot’ sort of way. And Mugs is just too nice. I feel guilty being suspicious of him.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s ridiculous.”

Alice tapped her chin with a finger. “I...don’t know. Maybe they feel that bad because they know they’re going to betray us?” Alice furrowed her brows. “But it can’t be easy to cut ties like that in the criminal world. I mean, look at me, I was a nobody with no reputation working at that shady place. I wanted to leave, and it took all of your help and those boys nearly _died_ to get my halo back.” She lifted a hand up. She tapped twice and the ring reappeared. “I can’t imagine how hard it must be if you are so infamous that the Sykes are bragging about just meeting you. Can they go straight immediately like that or is there more they have to do? I don’t understand it well myself.”

I nodded and shrugged. “It’s possible. But I’ve seen no real proof that it’s the truth, which is why those two frustrate me.”

Alice nodded. “I see what you mean.”

After that, the two of us got ready for bed. We talked about lighter topics for a while and finally went to our room. It was nice. It’s been so long since I’ve had someone to live with, the presence of another person encourages me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chaos, war secrets, and dark thoughts. Things are getting mad. ;3 This ghost is so excited.


	70. November 2, Wednesday (Part One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I went to edit this entry, and I realized it was 60 pages...So, this is coming in three parts. :D My goal is to have it all up and posted by Saturday before the main story updates again, but with life as it is right now, who knows what will happen. 
> 
> Also, I have a series recommendation for anyone who likes humor. I started watching Gravity Falls recently and it is the most random, hilarious show ever. Random fact: they manage to put NO FACE in it, as in No Face from Spirited Away. It's was the stinkin' weirdest thing I've ever seen. But it was almost _literally_ No Face.

November 2, Wednesday

I only slept two hours.

I’m up again, writing because I have nothing else to do. I’m not sure whether I should be worried or...grateful? 

I don't dare summon the mirror again tonight, because Alice is here now. I know she’ll be a lot more sensitive to the use of magic than the Tiptail brothers were yesterday morning. Not that I even remembered that they were here when I did those other tests. 

*Later*

Feeling stifled. I decided to go out for a walk. I know considering the mob is still out there that it wasn't the safest idea. But for some reason, I almost wanted them to show up. Runes of fire, lightning, runes that shrink a person, runes that will steal the air from a person’s lungs--they keep coming to my head.

It made my head ache. These thought were dark. I shouldn’t be thinking them. Yet, a deep anger had settled within me towards them. That rat had stolen the ink from Oddswell, thoughtlessly taken something that at most was a comfort to those who lived with the most horrifying condition I had ever heard of. They’d tried to blow up the detectives, had laughed about it! Fairfax has driven me to homelessness. And I’ll admit it now that it’s over, I tried to remain positive in my journal during that time, but I lived in constant terror. I hardly slept at night because the ground was hard, cold, dirty. Each day seemed to drag on endlessly unless I found something with meaning to distract me.

I hated them.

Almost against my will, but almost not, I found myself wandering through the motionless city toward the docks. Since the tree hanging incident I now carry a pencil, chalk, and inkwell with me at all times. I wasn’t sure what I planned to do...Haha! No, I knew exactly what I planned to do.

As I came into view of the warehouse of death there seemed to be a biting chill in the air. There were no lights on in the building...not even the street lamps were on. It was very quiet. The only sound was the lapping of the water against the docks.

I reached the front door and knocked. It echoed ominously. No one came. I stood back, considering the building for a moment. It was dead silent. There was no sign of anyone around. No lights. Something fishy was up.

On the door, I wrote a flame rune, condensed by a space rune. Taking a step back, I activated it.

BANG.

The door exploded into shards of wood that flew everywhere.

I waited another moment, looking at the inside of the warehouse beyond the shredded door. The room was similar to the door--shredded. There were machine parts, broken crates, wood debris everywhere. The walls and floor had holes in them. It looked like a tornado had gone through here, and again, the only source of light was from the windows. It was cold, like being in a refrigerator. It was interesting.

I stepped inside, walking through the debris as I looked for any sign of either of the Sykes brothers. I saw an overturned table that had been crushed. The door to Bill Sykes office was open, so I walked inside.

There was a wall of televisions, all off and a map of the dock and city with different pins marking areas. There was a shelf of model boats, a desk with a business ledgor and a schedule, and an open safe. Curious, I looked inside. One of the shelves was open and empty. The other had stacks of cash. In a drawer was the licence to a number of boats and the deed to the warehouse. Without hesitation I took all the cash and the licence to the boats. I left the deed. Then, I reached back and felt around the back. The wall shifted. It was false.

Oh, this would be fun.

I moved the false wall. Behind it was some more cash, which I took, and a notepad.

I pulled out the notepad first and flipped through the pages. There were a number of pages that had names and anagrams. Some of the names were crossed out.

Ha! A hitlist. I looked closer at the crossed out names. So, who had died? I didn’t recognize anyone until I came across Medusa. There was a note next to his name that said, “Runner: C took care.”

C? That wasn’t hard to guess. Cup Assassins. That was right. Medusa had been a warning to the other mobsters of what failure looked like. I laughed out loud and looked around. And then they’d failed to kill the detectives or even Xedo. Looked like those two assassins had killed the Sykes too. Probably that night the crack headed one had hung me up.

I flipped to the last page. The bottom half was stained with an ink spill. The top read

_‘Meeting with C. Handle ink. D wants W and R to stop. S and I to follow.'_

Who were D, W, and R? Winky? Ratigan? And the S and I? Sykes? But what about the D and the I? I blinked at the next line.

 _'New Target: Fox girl. Meet BH to ask about a rat. The college mouse? Ask C about it.’_ was written neatly on the page. A rat? College mouse? That was what Fairfax had called me. Ha! So somehow they had figured out that I had called the police on them. Too bad for them their time had come to an end.

My eyes wandered lower. Under it was a scribble I could barely make out. It had been written with so much force that the pen must have snapped and bled ink over the other page. The page was almost ripped. **_CURSE THE DEVIL AND HIS DOGS! THE SYKES ..._** The ink blots hid the rest.

I drew in a sharp breath of excitement. The Devil! The Devil? Hahaha! Did that mean the shadow man Robert Sykes had been talking about? But he’d never called his boss ‘the Devil.’ Well, if someone had decided to kill me, I might call them a Devil too.

The thought I’d had earlier about the Demon-Angel war and how the angels and devils had been fighting over something popped in my head. But could it be the real Devil? I didn't really know much about him. 

I filed that thought away for later.

Whoever this 'Devil' was, official devil or not, his dogs were obviously the Cup Brothers.

So, any bit of doubt I’d had in my suspicions of them had been simple, foolish weakness in the face of some very talented acting skills. These two were no more done with their previous work than I was done with runes.

A spark of anger lit in my heart again. Yet, nothing I said would matter. Bendy was determined to trust them. So, I’d have to find some way to prove their true colors. That would be tricky.

I put the notebook in my pocket and looked around the warehouse for anything else of interest.  

The only thing I could find was a small chair the perfect size for a small mouse. Ratigan. I picked it up briefly and then tossed it back into the wreckage. Well, that was it. I started to move the lighter items into a pile near one of the walls of the warehouse. Once the pile was big enough that I was happy with it, I tore off an empty page from the Sykes’ notebook. Scribbling the rune I wanted, I set the paper on top. I smiled, taking a long breath in and savoring the cold air. Then, I shot my magic into the rune.

The pile of debris burst into flame.

As the fire started to climb up the walls and spread to the other parts of the floor I walked out the door and back out onto the docks.

I had nearly reached the shore when there was a loud splash behind me. I stopped and looked at the ocean. Suddenly, a shadow darted out of the water and onto the dock next to me. I stumbled back, stifling a gasp, turned and ran.

“W-wait!” a high pitched voice called out. “You’re that girl from before, right?”

The pitch of the voice stopped me. A girl? I paused and turned, looking. “Who are you?”

“Uh, um, I-I’m Cala Maria.” She hunched her shoulders in the darkness. Her silhouette in the darkness became clearer and I recognized it. The mermaid.

The tension in me immediately disappeared, and I approached her. She was sitting on the edge of the dock, leaned forward towards me. “Are you alright?” I asked. She looked nervous.

“Uh.” She glanced back at the warehouse. “Mostly. What were you doing in a place like that?”

I gave her a long stare. This might be troublesome. “I couldn’t sleep. I went on a walk. When I saw the place something seemed off, so I went inside to take a look.”

She swallowed and glanced back. Her skin seemed a little too pale. “You’re right. Som…” Her eyes widened in fear. “Something evil happened in there,” she whispered. Murder generally was considered evil, so I had to agree with her.

I tilted my head at her. “What are you doing here this late? It’s nearly three in the morning.”

She turned to me. She blushed and ducked her head. “I...think I found a way to get on the Surface, but I have to wait a few days for it to be ready. I didn’t really have anywhere to go so...I just waited there.” She glanced around the docks.

I blinked. “That seems a sorry reason for you to wait around here,” I said with no little amount of scorn. Not to mention it upped the chance or drawing attention. “Do you have to be in the water at all times?”  

Her blushed darkened. “Well, I might have hoped to see...Um, I only showed up this night. It’s my first night around here. It’s not so...Um. Not always, but my scales will crack if they get dry for too long.” She wouldn’t give me direct eye contact.

Slow understanding filled me. “You were hoping to see Mugman.” I studied her with calculation. That's right. They both had a thing for each other. 

The mermaid looked like she was going to be that dark forever with how flushed she was. She covered her cheeks with her hands. “Wh-Me? Mugman? Um...maybe,” she admitted and ducked her head. “But I wanted to tell any of the heroes that saved me that I would be able to come up here soon.”

I considered this carefully. “So, would you like me to carry the message then?”

She straightened, her eyes bright with glee. “Would you! Oh that would be--” she cut herself off and glanced back at the warehouse. Luckily the flames weren’t showing in the high windows yet. It was like the joy was sucked out of her and into the building’s shadows. It was almost like...she knew something. An idea had formed at the back of my mind. What if she knew _several_ things? “Actually, you better not.” Her eyes darkened. “They might want to come see me and with that…” She trailed off. “It’d be better if they all stayed away from this place.”

“What’s so dangerous about an empty warehouse?” I asked flatly, slightly annoyed by her jumpiness, and the way she kept hinting that she knew something.

The girl bit her lip. The octopus on her head glanced around the docks like it was looking for something. “This may be a weird question, miss, but have you ever been afraid of the dark?”

It was an odd question. It made me think of what Alice had said about the curse of the Demon’s allies. The creatures of the darkness. How interesting. “When I was a child.”

She nodded sagely. “Our eyes are usually more open when we are children.” Then, she glanced back at the warehouse again. “We naturally knew to be suspicious of the dark, that there was something to fear. But as we grew up, we grew used to it. Our parents convinced us there was nothing there.” She swallowed dryly, real fear in her eyes. “But they’re wrong. The shadows can hear us. And whatever happened in there, it was evil. The shadows are excited about it.” She turned back to me with worried eyes, hangs wringing together.

Well, hopefully burning the place to the ground would solve the problem. Not to mention it would have been very satisfying to watch. But having her here to witness it happen after I'd left would be problematic. I pondered my idea again. But how would it work? Would she suddenly be able to walk at an inconvenient point? I got up from my crouch next to her. “How long until your ‘solution’ is ready?”

Her eyes widened, not seeming to hear me. “You’ve touched it,” she gasped. Her eyes wandered over me like she was looking for something.

That irritated me. I frowned at her. “Just because I went inside the warehouse, doesn’t mean I’m evil.”

She shook her head and pointed at my hand. “Can I see?” She offered her hand, palm up.

Confused, but curious, I gave it to her. She turned my hand and fingered my bracelet. “There! Oh!” She blinked. “I guess I should say it touched you instead of you touching it. That’s a lot of magical potential.” She blink and looked at my face. “Are you okay? Is this why you can’t sleep? The cog does weird things to people.”  

The cog? Was that what she meant by touch? “I can’t sleep because I have a lot of my mind,” I said tonelessly. “What do you mean by it touching me?”

She gave me a weak smile and hunched her shoulders. “Well, of course I recognize the magic. I was trapped right next to it for...years.” She brushed one of the tentacles out of her face and glanced up at me. “You should be careful of that thing. It’ll get you, and then ,it’s very difficult to get away.” She let go of the bracelet and shifted into a sitting position with her hands wrapped around a bend in her tail, like I would with my knees. “That’s why I want to help them. They saved me when I had given up hope. It was amazing to see Mugman move something I thought was immoveable.” She smiled brightly, chin lifting a little. “And to see actually daylight again.”

I made a listening noise for the sake of seeming polite. “That seems pleasant.” Though, she wasn't explaining anything she'd said. “Your words still confuse me, Cala.”

She looked up at me in surprise. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She blushed, ducking. “My mind has been racing ever since I got out of my cage. There has been so much to see and learn. I keep jumping around.” She glanced back at the warehouse. “If you don’t have to rush, do you want to get somewhere we can talk more comfortably? I don’t mind telling you everything I know. You’re a friend of the heroes after all.”  I took a moment to watch the bit of light rising from within the windows. It would be better to be away from here. I nodded.

“That sounds like an agreeable idea.” I stood up and walked back down the dock and alongside the ocean line, away from the warehouse. 

She jumped into the water. I heard her swim along side me as I walked. She would jump once in a while to at me. “So how long have--” Splash. “--you known Mugman and the others?”

I looked at her for a moment and scoffed.  “I met Mugman three days ago. As for the others, I’ve known Bendy and Boris since a little bit before their trial, so a couple weeks.” Saying it out loud, I realized how ridiculously short I’d known any of them. Really, I knew Oddswell the best, and that was different.

“Oh, that’s too bad. I was going to ask--” Splash. “--what Cuphead and Mugman were up to since they--” Splash. “Well, that was so long ago.”

My brows perked up with interest. “You’ve known them a while?”

She flew up and waved her hand back and forth before falling back into the waves. She came back up again. “Not really. Came from the same Islands though.”

“And where is that?” Interesting. Very interesting.

“Oh, just a little place about half a day’s sail from here,” she said.

“What is it called?” She was being evasive.

“You wouldn’t want to go there,” she said quickly, shaking her head. Very evasive.

Oh, so there was something worth knowing about it then? My lips curled up. “Why?”

She didn’t splash up but swam alongside for a bit. I couldn’t see her expression in the dark. Finally, she splashed up again. “It’s a long story, but there isn’t--” Splash. “--much left of that place, I’m sure.” She came up again. “It was on the decline when I was still around there years ago.” She fell and came up again. “And if they’re here it must really have fallen apart.”

I stopped walking and turned towards her. “Does your story that’s too long to share, even though I’m not sleeping and your just sitting here and waiting, have to do with their mysterious ‘big boss’?” Geez, playing beat around the bush with her was getting annoying. I pulled out the notebook I’d taken from Bill Sykes’ safe and flipped to the page with the note. I wagged the notebook in the air. “Their Devil?”

Her eyes widened and her face paled. “Th-their boss? The--” She disappeared into the water. Ah, the question had scared her off? That would be a shame. She suddenly threw herself back on the docks in front of me. I took a few steps back, keeping out of her reach. I stuffed the notebook back in my pocket.

“We can’t talk out in the open. Do you have somewhere we can go? Please!” She clasped her hands in front of her. Her eyes were huge. Even her octopus was begging with big eyes. “I can even sit out of the water for as long as it takes.”

I lifted my chin, surprised. Well. That was convenient. I didn't even have to ask. It was funny. I almost laughed. I tilted my head back and forth at her. But where? Of course as soon as I needed a private place, Alice had come back. I took a moment to think. I didn’t have any convenient, isolated places. The park was the best I had. But...I knew that Oddswell still owned the observatory down the road from his house. I put a hand on my hip and smiled. “You don’t mind riding in a wheelbarrow, do you?”

She shook her head quickly. “Just tell me what I have to do.”

I wagged a finger. “Just wait here while I go get it.” With that, I walked back into the rows of warehouses. I checked inside the windows of each building I passed until I saw what I needed. Then I used a rune to melt the warehouse doorknob.

I was back with the wheelbarrow in about fifteen minutes.

She was wringing her hands and biting her lip. The octopus looked scared and kept glancing around. “Oh dear, Oh my, what to do? What to do?” Then she noticed me. “You’re back!”

“Yeah,” I said cheerfully. “Hop up, and we can get going.”

She easily pulled herself into the barrow. Her tail hung over the edge, and her hands gripped the sides. “Okay.”

“Off we go, then!” I turned the barrow and headed toward the city. To be fair, the observatory was quite a ways across the city. Wheeling Cala in front of me, it took almost an hour to get there. When we arrived, I brought her around to the back and went to the rear door. Locked. Of course. So...Hmmm. Could I use a movement spell to open it? Like I’d used a movement rune for those bracelets? I wrote the spell out on the door. She watched me curiously, like a little kid with a magician.

A strained, metallic noise came from the door. After a moment, I tried it. Thee door swung open. Huh! Who needed to learn how to pick locks? I went back, lifted the barrow, and moved Cala inside; taking a moment to close and lock the door behind me. I considered going into the main area in the observatory that had been converted into a living room, but that would be too easy to find. So, I went down the dustiest, deepest hallway I could find.  

“Is there a bath around here?” she asked.

“Probably,” I mused. I probably should find a place with regularly running water. It would be easier to keep her there if I didn't have to haul a bunch of buckets. I opened a few doors. Just as I was about to give up and just go with buckets, I opened a door and found an old dusty bathroom at the end of a particularly old hallway. “Bingo.” I set the handles of the barrow down and turned it around to a convenient angle. “Can you make it?”

“Easy,” she said. She hoisted herself up with surprising arm strength and pulled herself into the bathtub. She adjusted herself to sit and let as much of her tail into the tub as possible. The scales looked a little dull, the bright shine they'd had before disappearing into a cloudy translucent shade. She leaned over and turned the knobs on the facet. When the water hit her she jumped and laughed a little. “Cold, I wasn’t expecting that.” She adjusted them a bit before she leaned back and sighed.

I settled on the floor a few feet from her. “So, what is it you wanted to say?”

“Right!” She pulled herself up and leaned over the edge. “I didn’t know they were still involved with that person! I mean, when they saved me they looked happy and relaxed, so I thought maybe they had--Oh!” She threw her hands onto either side of her head and groaned. “But it’s never that simple, is it! No! Of course not!” She shook her head and pulled herself to the edge of the tub again. “Miss…” She blinked. “I never asked your name.” She shook her head. “Oh Cala.” She dropped her head in a hand. “I’m sorry, miss. Let me try to explain at least enough.”

I raised a slow brow. Involved with that person? Happy and relaxed? She was beating around the bush again. I clicked my tongue. “It’s Holly.”

She lifted her head and grimaced. “With a note like that, you probably think they’re the worst, but I can assure you they’re not. They are actually good. I’m sure of it. I didn’t know them well on the islands. More knew of them, really, and I was dealing with my own problems at the time.” She sighed. “If they still have connection to that person, then they are in trouble. They need help, but no one can help them from the outside.”

“Who’s that person? And why can’t anyone from the outside help them?” I felt a wash of eagerness, and my eyes widened as I looked at her.

She shook her head. “That’s just it! I can’t say. That’s part of the problem. You’ll get involved, and then _you’ll_ be in trouble. I don’t want that for you, Holly. I don’t want that even for my enemies!” She dropped her head. “I thought they had gotten away.”

Irritation. It seemed any time something truly interesting could be learned, it was yanked away. First with that angel call, then with the records Alice mentioned, now with this. “So, ‘that person’ will be a danger to everyone as well, then? After all, it seems he sent them after my friends, and they’re obviously still working for him.” Coldness. I couldn’t seem to remove the coldness from my voice.

Cala furrowed her brows. “Sent them?...If they were sent, then they wouldn’t be working together.” Cala shook her head slowly. “No, he doesn’t allow that. I don’t know what they are doing.”

“Considering Bendy and Boris are the only ones who can see the map that points to the parts, I think it’s very possible.” I leaned against the doorframe.

Cala’s brow rose up. “No.” She shook her head again. “No, that can’t be. It doesn’t make sense.” She bit her lip. “A map? What map? Where did they get it from?”

“Who knows.” I shrugged. “They’ve had it since before I showed up.” Considering she came from the same place they did, a place she refused to reveal, I figured I couldn't trust her about where the map had come from.

She grimaced. “Okay. So, give me a minute to think.” She bit her lips. Her eyes drifted to the water in the tub. “So, they beat, went to him and disappeared. I thought they were dead like everyone else.” She laced her fingers together and propped her chin on them. “Then, he called me and sent me to get the cog. I got in the cave.” Him? The same ‘devil’ they worked for? “Grabbed it and then felt that power.” She blinked. “Then, I blacked out and was trapped in that dark room with my tail bound to the floor. I was there for years.” She swallowed. “Then, Mugman appeared, older and almost unrecognizable.”

That surprised me. She’d turned into that monster as soon as she touched it? But Felix, the mug, and I had all touched it without having that dramatic of a reaction. Then again, if our desires were different, the effects could be too.

She took a deep breath. “They got me out. I was almost back to normal. I was my size again. I didn’t feel…” She trailed off. Her brows knit together. She looked down at her hands. “So, I knew I could hide from him again. I didn’t have to go back. I had it again, after all. He sent it with me to get the cog.” It? What was it? She sighed and dropped her hands in the water. “But if they aren’t in hiding from him, then why haven’t they come after me? That’s what they do with deserters. That’s what they did to me _before.”_ She blinked. “Could they be…?”

She suddenly turned to me. It was so fast that water splashed out of the tub. “Holly! What have they been doing since they got back? Tell me everything!”

Hmm. “What’s it? He sent you with it to get the cog?” If she wouldn’t answer my questions, then I wouldn't answer hers.

“I can’t tell you,” she said simply. She seemed to pick up on my frustration. “But it’s important to me. Important to all of us in my position. I’m sorry I have to be vague. But it’s to protect you, Holly. You have to believe me.”

I stared at her. “That’s a bunch of trash. An excuse. The only dangerous knowledge is the unknown.” I gave her a mocking smile. “You and the Cups seem to have that excuse in common.”

“No Holly!” Cala’s eyes widened. “Not in this case! B-but if those boys are doing what I _think_ they are doing, then it’s wonderful and oh-oh so dangerous. Maybe you can help them! Maybe you can help all of us!”

“Why would I want to help a couple of murderers?” I spat, rising finally.

She fell back. Her face became ashen. “Mur...mur...murderers?” she asked. It was like I slapped her.

I rolled my eyes and pulled out the notebook. “Those cups were meeting with mobsters. And here, right at the bottom of the nice little mob man’s personal notebook is the name ‘Medusa.’” I laughed scornfully. “Runner. C took care of it. _Cup assassins_.” I enunciated the words.

“No! I don’t believe you!” Tears came to her eyes.

“They spent months trying to murder Bendy and Boris before they suddenly came up with this bad-guy-turned-good routine. You think people would be a bit smarter about it.” I shook my head.

She shook her head. Face crumples in distress. “No! No!” She looked at the notebook. “It’s a lie! They don’t kill people!”

I jerked my head back. “Are you really that thick? You said evil was coming from that warehouse? Well, they were there! And the Sykes are gone. If they didn’t do the deed themselves, they at least helped. Because the Sykes _failed_.”

“That wasn’t them!” She shouted. “No! It wasn’t them!” Her hands went to either side of her head. “You don’t know that! That-That C could mean anything! You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“You mean, other than hearing from the mobsters themselves that they were going to meet with those two? And seeing them sneak off when they knew no one would miss them? And having said mobsters end up _dead_ afterwards,” I growled. “Everything about them screams fishy!”

Suddenly, Cala changed. She wasn’t a cute mermaid. All her skin was scaly. Her eyes turned bright yellow. Her pupils narrowed to slits. The tentacles that worked as hair changed into snakes. She moved with lightning speed. I scrambled back. Then, I was on my back, staring at the ceiling. She hissed over me. _“Shutup! You don’t understand! You can’t! I won’t let you! This is the only chance!”_ She ripped the notepad from my hand and threw it behind her into the tub.

I clawed my way back into the hall. “You’re a star-fallen _gorgon!_ ” I gasped, carefully keeping my eyes averted.

She gasped in return and drew back, scrambled back into the tub. She covered her face with her hands. “Ge-get away from me!” she sobbed. “Go a-a-away.”

I started to laugh. I couldn’t stop. This was _the best_. “That’s brilliant! I thought there weren’t any more left!” I continued to laugh, rolling to my side on the floor. She curled tighter, drawing her tail around herself and sobbing into her hands.

“No! G-g-go away! Stop it!” Cala said. The snakes hissed at me threateningly.

I sat up, careful to move out farther past the door jamb. “Are you the only one or are there more?” I sat cross legged, holding my legs.

She shook her head. “Aren’t you scared at all?” The snakes calmed. “Don’t you know what I could do just by looking up?” She sounded defeated.

I touched a lip. “You do make a point.” I got up, dusting off my skirt and moving out of visual range, a little way down the hall. “I was planning on you getting angry at me anyways, so that wasn’t surprising. I just didn’t expect you to be one of the dark ones.”

“W-what?” I heard her shift. “But you’re one of Mugman’s friends!”

“Just because Bendy’s forced us all to endanger ourselves by allowing them into our circle, doesn’t mean I’m his friend.” I blew a bit of hair up. “And with them knowing that I’m suspicious of them, it’s been hard to gather any evidence, which is why meeting you was so very convenient.”

“I’m not saying anything else! Take me back to the ocean!” Cala demanded.

I sighed, looking at the floor. Then, I tapped my fingers thoughtfully against the wall. “Let’s see...No.” The snakes hissed.

“I won’t help you hurt them. Would Bendy be okay with this?” she hissed.

My smiled dropped. “Bendy has been blinded. If he gets more attached to those two, when they betray him it’ll kill him on the spot. The shock will be too much. I _won’t_ let that happen.” I slammed a fist against the wall.

“And if you get them in trouble, you’ll get them killed! And me! And who knows how many others!” she hissed.

“Not if I know what’s coming,” I said grimly. “Not if I know how to fight them. Every creature has a weakness.”

“No. Not everyone,” she said gravely. “You’re going to get all of your friends killed. I’m leaving.” There was shift in the water.

I peeked inside, curious about what she was going to do. “Really?” She lifted a little seashell. She turned her head so she didn’t see me.

“I know what this is. It’s the cog. It has to be. You’re corrupted,” she said.

I tilted my head. She was going to do something. She was going to leave in a way I didn’t expect. I should have seen it. I let my face relax. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m just mad, and I don’t know what to do!” Tears, surprisingly easy to bring to my eyes, formed. I looked down and covered my face. “I just don’t want Bendy to die, and I’m afraid of all these secrets!”

She hesitated. Her head half turned, but she stopped herself. Her hand gently closed over the shell, and she sighed. “I’m sorry you’re afraid.” She tossed the notepad to my feet, the ink running, the pages ruined. The little viper. I could write out what I'd seen, but that wouldn't be half as good proof as the notepad itself.

I looked up. “I can take you back to the sea.”

“And I’m sorry for the secrets, but like you refuse to trust them for their secrets, I can’t trust you while you’re tied to that thing.” She tightened her fist. The delicate sound of the shell breaking filled the room. She opened her hand and the pieces sprinkled into the water. The water glowed.

“We’ll save you, Holly. Like they saved me. I know they can do it,” she said, and then she suddenly dropped down, disappearing.

My tearful expression dropped as I lost sight of her. I growled with frustration, wiping away the fake tears. “Had a magic item, huh? I should have seen it coming.” I leaned against the door and rubbed the spot where I had drawn the runes while she had been getting into the tub. Barrier. Lightning. It had been such a simple plan, I hadn’t thought there was a way for it to go wrong. Leave it to one of the ancient races to have an ace up their sleeve. Next time I had a nice opportunity like that, I’d have to prepare better. “What a waste. I could have found out all sorts of interesting things from her if I’d had the time.” I shrugged with a sigh and looked out the window. Sunlight. Well, apparently I needed to get to work soon then.

I went back to the apartment and sat down in a kitchen chair just as Alice exited her room, sleep still in her eyes. I smiled brightly. “Hi Alice! Did you have a good night?”

She blinked and smiled. “Yes, It’s so nice to sleep in a big queen bed. How was your night?”

I considered the question for a moment. “Oh, I liked my night.” I smiled. “You could say the entire thing was a dream.” I winked.  

She smiled. “Sounds grand. Ready for work today? Betty said it could get busy. I talked to her on the phone, and she wants us both in today.”

“Oh?” I raised a brow. “That’s great!” I pulled out a bowl of cereal. “You know why it’s getting busy today?”

“You know how the story for the Ink Machine was published by Mr. Tiptail a while ago?” Alice asked with a smile.

“Yeah?” I tilted my head.

“Since then a lot of medical people and those with the illness came into town. There are a bunch of people now. Things have gotten busier on the streets,” Alice said. “And there is hope in the air. It’s wonderful.”

I grinned at her. “I’m so happy!!” I sat down and started to eat. I suddenly was aware of a...lack of something. “Alice? Have you seen Snowball?” I glanced around the room. No sign.

She blinked. “No, I haven’t.” She turned her head to face the room. “Oh dear. Where could she have gone?”

I got up and peeked into the front room. Nothing. “Snowball!” No answer. I peeked in my bedroom. Still nothing. “Snowball?” I proceeded to check the kitchen, bathroom, Alice’s room and the balcony. Snowball was nowhere.

I sat down on the couch in the front room. “Alice,” I said shakily. “I can’t find her.” My voice cracked. What if she had blown away? What if something large and hungry had eaten her? What if that dumb crackhead had taken her? Oh, right. He was still unconscious. Probably. She’d been here when Alice and I had arrived last night.

“It’s okay, Holly. I’m sure we will. She was here last night. She couldn’t have gone far.” Alice put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. Warmth came from the contact. I let out a long breath. That...helped. But it...felt weird.

“Thanks Alice,” I said and carefully stood up, away from her hands. My lip trembled. “She’s probably hiding somewhere. She’ll come out eventually.”

We ate breakfast, carefully looking around the apartment one last time before giving up. My heart twisted. I had been mad at Snowball, so I hadn’t spent too much time playing with her lately. Then she had been sulking. What if she’d just gotten tired of me?

Alice and I left for work.

Like Alice had said, it was busy at Betty’s. Even with the three of us we were moving the entire time, either ringing up the register or putting out more items, helping customers or cleaning. By late afternoon when the store closed, Alice and Betty were panting. I was just bored.

“Where do you get that energy and can you share?” Betty joked.

“She’s a power house lately.” Alice smiled, but there was confusion in her eyes.

I shrugged. “Just got a lot to do. And I make sure to sleep all I need.” I gave Betty a kiss on the cheek. “Besides, I want to do as much to help the people I love as I can.”

“You're sweet.” Betty smiled. “Well, you two have a good rest of your day. Tell everyone hello for me.” She waved us out the door.

We waved goodby to Betty and made our way towards Granny’s house. “Maybe Snowball made her way here,” Alice suggested softly.

I nodded. “You’re probably right.” I gave her a half-hearted smile. If she was with that assassin again...A rush of anger ran through me...I didn’t know what I would do.

The front door opened.

“Hello?” Granny called from the second floor.

“It’s Alice and Holly!” Alice called out.

Closing the door behind us, I took a look around. Were those three awake yet? Mugs came out of the kitchen with a plate of food and a smile.  “Hello!”

I felt pinch of contempt in my chest, and once again, I felt a flare of anger that Cala had managed to destroy that notebook. But my mistake with Cala last night had taught me something. Don’t let them know you’re their enemy. I smiled back at him. “Hi Mugman! How are you doing?”

He smiled back after a moment of surprise. “Good, I’m just taking lunch up to the Blue Fairy. Maybe you could convince Boris to come down and eat?” Mugs asked.

“Sure.” I looked at Alice cheerfully. “Want to come?”

She nodded. “Once you’re done I would like to talk to you about something, Mugman,” Alice said. Mug’s lost his smile for a second before it was back again. He nodded and headed up.

The two of us followed just behind him until we parted at the doors of the infirmary. Alice opened the door and the two of us walked inside. “Boris?”

The wolf looked up from a book he had out. The page I had given him yesterday sat unfolded on top of it. “Yes?”

“Want to come down for lunch?”

He sighed and closed the book. “Sure.”

Wow. He was just so cute sometimes. I closed the door as we went into the hall. “How is the studying going?”

“Good. I think I get some of our mistakes. They don’t use a lot of past tense verbs and adverbs,” Boris said.

I nodded. “Did you notice the strange bit in the section about the cog?” I raised a brow at him with a smile.

“Yeah!” He grinned. “It doesn’t match with the rest of it. It talks about how the cog effects the body, and then suddenly it’s illusions? It doesn’t make sense.” Wow. This kid was really smart. It had been only a day. I hadn’t expected him to see it that quickly.

I winked. “Bingo. Not to mention, if you look very closely, the writing style and even the handwriting is different.”

Boris blinked. “Different? Like there were two people that wrote it?”

I hummed. “Exactly.”

“But, why? Why add something like that? And why is it out of order? The cup is one of the last steps. Why is it where it is? Everything else seems to be in order?” Boris’ eyes sparked in curiosity.

I shrugged. “Maybe it was a revision that took place later.” I clicked my tongue. “Though, I doubt it. The other handwriting seems much more recent to me.” I thought some more. “It could be that someone simply wanted to mess with any knowledge on the parts. But the question is why?” And could there be other ‘insertions’?

“Holly?” Boris glanced at Alice too. “What if the person that added things also took out things?” Alice blinked, her eyes widening.

I frowned. “We’d be working blind of those things.”

“That,” Alice spoke up, “could be really dangerous. Considering what Boris has told me, these parts are powerful and their magic changes people. One wrong move and any, if not all, of us could be in trouble.”

Well, that was an understatement. I eyed her carefully. I hoped she wasn’t thinking of saying we should stop doing tests with the cog. We’d made a lot of progress yesterday. “What are you thinking?” We headed downstairs in a row. Alice glanced behind her.

“I think we should start looking for a better place to store them,” Alice said. “Anomalies could happen from just having them around. It might not be obvious at first, but with things this strong magically, there is no way they don’t affect the things around them.”

“Like the boulder spiders?” Boris asked.

“Exactly,” Alice said. “But it’ll be hard to find a good place with magical containment on the Surface.” She tilted her head.  

Magical containment? That sounded like it could be useful. “What is something like that usually made up of?” I looked at Alice.

She hummed thoughtfully. “Well, there are certain plants that can be used, gemstones, wood from certain trees, and of course, runes. Ivy, ashwood, and amethysts are good examples.”

I clicked my tongue. “Those don’t sound impossible to obtain.”

“I agree.” Alice nodded with a smile. We got to the dining room where Granny served us all. Mugman joined in after a moment.

“How is she, dear?” Granny asked.

“Still really tired,” Mugs told her.

Granny nodded. “Poor thing. Her magic is legendary, but it takes so much out of her with this illness.” I leaned back in my chair. Ink Illness really was terrible in its ability to tear people down. Someone like the Blue Fairy being wiped out like this? Absolutely terrifying.

“That must be hard,” Alice murmured sympathetically. Granny left to go upstairs and tend to the fairy.

“So, I meant to ask you Mugman.” Alice turned to the mug. “Would you be willing to come back to the casino with me?” I choked on a noodle.

Boris inhaled his drink and started coughing. Mugs patted his back. “I-Uh-Why!” the mug stammered.

“I need to make sure that the other angels can leave if they wish. I was the biggest donor of magic for his project, and I would feel responsible if he did something to them,” Alice said. I put my head upon my hand, looking at Alice. Those angels had spent more time harassing her than Flug. And she wanted to risk more people going back to that gaudy, shallow, zozzled-up joint to save them?

“Alice, you saw what he did to Bendy.” Boris stared at her with worried eyes.

“He shredded all three of them and then sent a curse after, because he felt miffed that he didn’t win in every way possible,” I added, frowning.  

“He won’t try something like that again with his ace over me gone.” Alice winked and flicked her halo. “He wouldn’t want to risk starting another war with angels or getting in trouble with his king. This is just to make sure the others are safe.”

To make sure the others were safe...I settled back down, the anger receding. I should have gone to Black Hat’s joint last night and burned _it_ down. Scaly demon.

“That’s...really kind of Alice,” the mug said hesitantly. “I hope we don’t have to threaten, uh, war.” He winced.

“As I said, he’ll do everything in his power to avoid it. I was hoping to go once you were done eating,” Alice said. “It should be quick."

Before the others woke up and vetoed the idea? I almost smirked, but Alice’s point did seem reasonable.

“Can I come too?” Boris asked tentatively. Alice blinked.

“I don’t know if your brother would like that,” Mugs said with a worried look on his face.

“Please? It’ll be my first time seeing another demon.” He turned his puppy eyes on Alice and Mugs. Alice’s eyes widened in surprise. Mugs grimaced.

“Cup and Bendy are going to kill me if anything happens,” the mug assassin muttered. If only.

“Then, we’ll make sure nothing happens,” Boris said with certainty.  

I looked at Alice. “Could I come too?” Seeing a negotiation of this sort would be extremely unique. It would be fascinating.

“I...think it would be fine,” Alice said. “I don’t see why not.”

“Actually, I was hoping you’d stay here and watch Bendy, Holly. If that’s okay,” Boris said the last part quickly. “Dr. Oddswell and Granny are so busy, and I don’t want him to wake up to no one around.”

I blinked and almost said, ‘Why can’t they just go get Red?’ in irritation. But then I stopped because an idea came into my head. Actually...this might be the better opportunity. A perfect opportunity to search for information. I exhaled and smiled at Boris. “Of course. I can do that for you.”


	71. November 2, Wednesday (Part Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand part two! *Turns and presses the button to play music on my phone. Halloween music starts.* She's getting worse. 
> 
> By the by, I ended up hunting down music to listen to so I could get in the evil Holly mindset. They are actually pretty good songs. So, if you want to listen, here they are. Enjoy!
> 
> [Midnight by the Swingrowers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKPD8jChw94) and [Spooks by Louis Armstrong.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_Y_m2ZQ6Qo)

“Thanks!” Boris brightened up and wagged his tail. It wasn’t long after that when the three got ready and were at the door.

“And if we don’t come back before the sun has completely set, call the police,” Alice added as an afterthought as she paused with her hand on the knob. Boris and Mugs shared a look behind her back. I almost laughed. The police would be as useful as fins on a dog when it came to handling that demon, no offense meant to Ringtail and Featherworth. With that, they disappeared out the front door.

I moved back up the stairs towards the infirmary, making a stop at the doctor’s supply closet. No, if they didn’t come back then other tactics would be necessary. Demons, demons, demons. What stopped demons? Hadn’t one of my books mentioned an anti-demon rune being out there? That would be fun to find. If only I had more time to go to the library.

I entered the infirmary and stood there for a moment, taking in the scene. The three occupants rested peacefully in their beds. The desk at the foot of the room was now empty. The curtains were drawn half shut so the daylight wasn’t on their faces. Next to each bed was a nightstand that held each of their personal belongings.

I shut the door behind me and closed the curtains all the way. I clicked my tongue. It would be bothersome if any of them woke up while I was doing things. I went to Bendy and carefully shook his shoulder. “Hey, Bendy,” I said in a normal voice. No response. I grabbed both of his shoulders and shook as hard as I could. “Bendy!” I said loudly. He lolled to the side, limp. No, he was out like a light. Okay.

I tilted my head and went to Felix next. “Felix?” I patted his face. “Wake up, Felix.” He didn’t respond. Hmm. I flicked his nose, leaning down by his ear and yelling at the same time. “Felix!” He didn’t even twitch.

Well, this was promising. Just crack-head left. I went to his bedside and took a moment to just look. With his eyes closed and face relaxed he looked years younger, almost...handsome. His hair-foam whatever was a little messy, and his straw sat a bit sideways on the pillow.

Hmmm. Nope.

I wound my hand back and slapped him as hard as I could. His head snapped to the opposite side with a satisfying crack. But other than that, there was no response. I looked at my hand. That had been very therapeutic.  

I looked back at him. Well, if that wasn’t going to wake him up, nothing would. I was safe for now. I clicked my tongue, going back to the door and locking it. Then, I methodically started to search through the ceramic blockhead’s stuff. His bag had pretty basic travel things, nothing that really seemed all that personal. Actually, a good wad of cash. It made sense since they obviously didn’t work regular jobs or stay at a regular place. There was also ceramic cream for chips and cracks. No journal, not that he seemed like the type that would write; no wallet with a telling picture. What a waste. It would be nice if I could just find a way to finish him now, crack that head a bit more, put a little poison in somewhere. But I couldn’t do that without causing bucket-loads of trouble that I wasn’t ready for. Not to mention, it would be obvious that I’d done it. The other one was easier to handle. I still wanted to find out more about them, so I’d hoped to get information from him, but he probably wouldn’t be in a talking mood even if I could get away with offing his brother. Really, it was a bother.

I’d have to settle with this.

I picked up one of the needles I’d taken from Oddswell’s supplies and considered the cup’s anatomy. Where wouldn’t it be noticed? His neck and elbow would be too obvious, so...In the end, I chose a vein just below his knee. When I was all finished up, I carefully the syringe in my bag.

I stuck my hands in my pockets and surveyed the cup again. Wait. That big coat. It had a lot of pockets. I should look there too while I had the chance. Carefully, I stuck my hands into each of the front trench coat pockets. They were pretty much useless as well. All they held was a comb and some cigarettes. There was also an extra pair of white gloves. I eyed the coat. But there must be more pockets. This guy was tricky, after all. I slid my hands to the inner lining of the jacket. At first, all I felt was cloth. But then, my hands moved over a long lump in the upper side of the coat. I searched for an opening and stuck my fingers inside, pulling out the object.

It was two scrolls made of thick, heavy paper. They smelled old and the edges were worn. I idly continued to search as I looked at them. What were these? Just as I was about to withdraw my hand to unroll one, my fingers brushed something round and soft.

“Meep!” I blinked and stumbled back as a lump in the cup man’s coat moved. I knew that voice! Snowball leapt from his coat and scrambled down under the bed.

I immediately dropped the scrolls and crouched down on the floor. “Snowball!” I only caught a last glimpse of a white body disappearing under the nightstand before she was gone.

“Snowball!” I shoved my hand under the nightstand, searching. I only felt dusty and grit. Yanking my hand back out, I gave a growl of frustration. Standing up, I nearly slammed my foot into the bed, but stopped, because I knew even if these three were senseless, everyone else in the house wasn’t. I glared daggers at the unconscious assassin. This _fraud_ was stealing my pet when he wasn’t even _conscious!_ It took me several minutes to slow my breathing enough to be sensible. Taking a deep breath, I looked at the floor for the scrolls.

They were gone.

I frowned. Wait. That had been interesting. It looked important! It couldn’t just _disappear._ I glanced at the cup man. No, he was definitely still unconscious.

I looked at the other two. They were as well. Could I have rolled it underneath something? I felt underneath the bed and then the nightstand. Nothing. Just nothing.

Then where was it!

I took another deep breath. The only other thing I could think of was...Snowball?

A flare of anger ran through me. So, she’d decided to completely change sides now? Well, I’d find her eventually. And I’d teach that flying rat to abandon her _creator_.

With another growl, I moved away from the assassin. Then, I remembered that I wasn’t quite finished. I grabbed the little capsule I’d also taken from Oddswell’s supplies and went back, touching crack-head’s hair. It acted a bit more like hair than I expected, so it didn’t go into the capsule like a liquid would. I looked around for scissors and came back, snipping an odd bit off and putting it in the capsule.

No reason to search Bendy. But...I hesitated. It would be so interesting to see what demon blood did. He would never know, right? So, it would do no harm. I say I hesitated, but it was barely that. Like before, I took it from underneath his knee and made sure there was no bleeding left after. I also took an odd hair sample from a spot he wouldn’t notice.

The clock continued to tick, and by this time, I was just bored. Nothing left to do. I glanced at Felix, and just a bit of curiosity rose within me that I looked at his bag. His _magical_ bag. I picked it up and opened it carefully, looking inside. Empty. I stuck my hand inside. Something like paper brushed my hand. My fingers curled around it, and I pulled it out. It was Felix’ manuscript for his next book.

Ooo. Fun. I flipped through each page. I’d read it from my head later. Then, I stuck my hand in the bag again. This time, there was something leather bound and round. A journal? I pulled it out. No, it was a sheathed dagger. I hadn’t even been close. I unsheathed it and looked at the blade. There were dried blood flecks on it, but it was pretty clean. After this, I continued to pull object after random object out of the bag: an axe, a water canteen, a spare hat, pens, a shirt, a yarn ball, a bowl, a spoon, matches, and (finally) a journal.

The journal kept me occupied all the way up until I heard the others come back through the front door. I quickly stuffed all of Felix’s things back in the bag and had just enough time to unlock the infirmary door before Boris arrived. He knocked and opened the door. “Hello?”

I smiled at him from the desk chair. “Hi Boris. How did it go?”

His brows furrowed in confusion, but he was still smiling. “It went really well, actually. Mr. Hat didn’t seem angry at all and completely agreed with Alice. We just had to promise to stay quiet about everything. Mugs wasn’t happy about that at first, but Alice reminded him that none of them wanted the other angels to find out, so he agreed in the end too.” He came in and pulled a chair up next to mine. “But he refused to answer any of my questions about Bendy. He just said, ‘Ah, you’re his little pet.’”

I scowled. Boris continued. “And then, he didn’t really talk to me after that. Mugs got annoyed and refused to talk to him. Most of the talking was between Mr. Hat and Alice anyway. What have you been doing?”

I pulled a reference book from my bag. “Just reading. And napping a little.” I looked at the three patients. “They haven’t stirred at all,” I said with a shrug. Not even with encouragement.  

Boris sighed. “Bendy is going to be so grumpy that he’s been asleep so long.”

I nodded. “Hopefully, they’ll wake soon.”

“Hey Boris, I found some cards we could--Oh, hi Holly.” The mug came in with a hand of cards.

I pasted on a smile. “Hi.”

“Alice is downstairs talking to Granny and a really pretty woman,” the scarf said with a tilt of his head. His straw moved from the motion.

I frowned and glanced at Boris. “Who?”

“Probably Snow,” Boris said. “You bring the cards for us to play?” The mug smiled and nodded.

Well, that was my cue. It was time to do more things with the cog. I smiled at the two of them. “Have fun with your game.”

“Oh c’mon, Holly! Play with us,” Boris invited. Mugs pulled up another chair and shuffled the deck.

I blinked. But the cog...Well, I suppose I could work with it after the game. I eyed the mug. Maybe I could play twenty questions if I was careful. “Okay.” I shrugged and sat back down.

Boris smiled. The mug passed out the cards.

I tilted my head. “What are we playing?” I only had two cards.

“Black Jack,” the scarf said. He flipped two cards over. “You’re trying to match your cards to what’s on the table to make a hand. I flip cards up. Usually, we would bet each turn and try to pressure each other to fold until I turn the last card. The one with the best hand would win the pot, but I’m just showing Boris how the game works right now.”

“So, a bit of bluffing and a bit of luck?” No wonder he knew this game.

“Exactly, you can win with a terrible hand if you get the others to fold before the last card is turned. But there’s usually a lot of risk to it since you could lose everything you bet if someone doesn’t give,” the mug said. He chuckled. “Bro once won a game with a pair of threes. Everyone was so twisted up about it. It was a riot!” So he was a good liar? No surprise there. 

Boris chuckled. “Sounds like something Bendy would do.”

I blinked. That comparison bothered me. I looked at the mug. “So, you guys like playing cards a lot?” It was a good, harmless question to start with.

“We didn’t play for a long time. When we did start, it wasn’t that often. It still isn’t.” He shrugged. “We don’t really have a lot to lose, so gambling is kinda out for us.” He sighed. “And there are some people around that we just can’t beat no matter what.” With that, we started to play.

I frowned. Well, that seemed like an awfully quick mood change. We were just talking about gambling. “I’m sorry to hear that,” I said carefully. “Good gamblers out there?”

Boris smirked. “Just sounds like you’re a sore loser to me.” He snickered.

Mugs lifted his round nose and sniffed. “I will have you know that Cup and I have great poker faces. Against the average joe, we could cream ‘em.”

“But…?” Boris drew out the word.

“Vicious is a person you never want to play with when you have full pockets. You go away broke,” Mugs stated flatly.

Vicious?

“Vicious?” Boris asked.

“She’s a fiend! She knows just what to say to keep ya at the table until she’s bled ya dry!” Mugs declared. He flipped a card. “She could give demons a run for their money. No, she’d leave with that too.”

Boris and I laughed. Mugs pouted until he smiled too.

I wiped away a tear. “Where does she gamble?” Where do you gamble?

“I think everywhere. I haven’t been to a bar or casino that doesn’t know about her. She is infamous.” Mugs smirked. “The casino owners are still trying to figure out if she counts cards or is using magic, but so far, they have nothing on the ol’ gal.”

Hmm. Well, that wasn’t useful. Oh well. “So, I’m assuming Vicious isn’t her real name. Did you come up with that or was it your brother?”

Mugs shook his head slowly, his eyes wide. “She came with the name. I have no clue what her real name is.”

I frowned and laughed. “So, she just shows up and says, ‘Hi, my name is Vicious?’” What _was_ this woman?

“No, it’s more like she walks in and everyone else is like ‘Oh no, it’s Vicious. I gotta go home. I don’t have the money to lose to her tonight!’ She does a great job bugging bro too.” Ah, well, that sounded like a useful skill. The scarf smirked. “And it’s so funny, but she’s just this normal little old lady. But thugs and big gamblers will duck away when she’s looking for a game.”

Boris laughed. “Sounds like Sasha on a bad day. A sweet woman until you get on her bad side.” He smiled. “There was a time she made Bendy scrub dishes for a whole night for messing with this group of girls. It was before he knew how to be ‘courteous.’” Boris used finger quotes.

“He’s a bad flirt?” The mug smirked.

“The worst! I just want to crawl under a rock!” Boris groaned. The scarf laughed and flipped another card.

“What do you think?” the mug asked me. “Is he really that bad?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure how to respond to him sometimes. But then again, I don’t feel like I know how to flirt.” I flipped a card. Or maybe at this point, I really didn’t care.

The dish person raised his brows. “Really? But your such a pretty dame! I thought it’d be natural for you with yer smarts and looks!” He sounded really surprised.

Something in me twitched. Yeah, because every girl understood what guys were babbling at them when they leered and made strange jokes. I smiled. “Thanks. I haven’t really spent that much time around boys, I guess.”

Boris pulled a face. “Flirting is gross.”

Mugs chuckled. “You say that now, but someone special will come along someday, and then you’ll be whipped.”

“No way.” Boris shook his head and scrunched up his nose.

Honestly, at this point, I was of the same opinion. Trying to feel that way about a person made me feel weird. What point was there in that?

“Just you wait, pal.” Mugs winked.

“Oh, like you and a certain mermaid?” Boris smirked. My smile dropped for half a second. That gorgon. That's right. She was still a problem. Eventually she would get back.

Mugs blushed, his smiled dropping. “Hey now--”

“Oh c’mon, you two were head over fins for each other.” Boris rolled his eyes. I sat back and just enjoyed the conversation. Before returning to the apartment last night, I’d broken into the library again and found out a bit about her shell. It was called an Ulu Shell. What it did was transport the user to a random area in the sea at least a certain distance away. Luckily, that meant she wouldn’t be anywhere near here for now, but I was still stuck with the problem of what I would do when she got back here. She’d obviously tell these people what I’d done. That couldn’t happen. So, I was brewing a plan. It would be ready. Eventually.

“Ah, it’d never work out.” The assassin scratched the back of his head.

Boris blinked. “And why not?” He frowned.

The scarf blinked. “Oh, well, uh. J-just with her bein’ a mermaid and everything we have goin’ on here and everythin’.”

That wasn’t the reason and I knew it. It must have something to do with their shared ‘big boss,’ the scary man, the ‘devil’ to their dog.  

Boris snorted. “We’ll get the quest done, and then you two can go be gross off somewhere I don’t have to see.”

Mugs laughed. “I will remember that for when you get hit by Cupid.”

“Never!” Boris declared which made the mug laugh harder and Boris grin.

“Cup have a girlfriend?” I asked. Maybe another resource?

Mugs made a scoffing sound. “Stars, he needs one. Someone to get him to loosen up a bit.” He rolled his eyes.

Well, that was a dud. “I always wondered what it would be like if Bendy actually got a girlfriend,” Boris mused. Adorable. Maybe she would be angelic? I still thought that had been the cutest combination I’d ever seen.

“Hopefully, his flirting would only be cut down to one woman instead of every pretty face he sees,” the scarf suggested.

Boris deadpanned. “I don’t know if that’d be better or worse.” The mug laughed at his expression and shrugged. “At least he learned manners and to not go after girls that already have a date.”

“Was it bad?” Mugs asked.

“Only if he thought the dame could do better than the fella she was with. Sasha really had to drill it into him that it wasn’t any of his business,” Boris explained. He rolled his eyes. “That, and he didn’t seem to care about our situation when it came to a date. Like the bills, for instance.”

Mugs winced. “Blew it on flowers or something?”

Boris sighed. “Yeah, and then when he’d get rejected, he’d drink himself silly and come stumbling home. There was once or twice I had to go get him. He would always say he was swearing off women or that only I mattered. But after a few days, it’d start all over again.”

“Sounds rough,” Mugs said. He turned the last card and flipped up his hand. I frowned. Well, I hoped our date didn’t cause him those problems, though the idea of a drunken Bendy slightly amused me.

Boris nodded. “It can be. This quest has actually been good for him to meet more good people in the world.”

Mugs nodded. “Now, Holly there has a two pairs. Which means two of her cards pair with these two. I have three of a kind since my two cards are the same, and they match that one. And you Boris…” The mug blinked and narrowed his eyes. “That’s a straight. Are you sure you haven’t played before?” the scarf turned suspicious eyes on the wolf.

Boris smiled and shrugged innocently. “I have no clue what that all means.” Well, leave it to Boris to win on the first try.

Mugs frowned unbelievingly. “I don’t know if I completely believe that.” Boris snickered.  

We played a couple more times. I asked more questions, but I didn’t really find out anything important. The scarf was far too closed mouthed for that. He was good at turning a conversation around and away from the things I really wanted to know. Eventually, I begged off the game and left. It had been a waste of questions. I should have just gone to the cog. Now, I was just itching for it. That feeling, like flight. The shimmer of golden runes. The rush of magic through me.

I wanted it now.

I walked inside the study. My eyes went to the cog and I let out a long, anticipatory breath as I smiled, staring. I could practically feel the magic. I didn’t even care what it was. I wanted that magic. I wanted to know how this thing worked. I walked slowly into the room and brushed my fingers over the cog.

It was beautiful.

I pressed my hand hard into its surface and laughed out loud. Wow, if this thing helped me, I could _literally_ fly. I could split the ground open. I could--

“Holly?” A soft, female voice yanked me partially from my reverie.

I scowled, dark, dark anger surging through me. I didn’t _want to be interrupted._

I kept my back to Alice.

My hand trembled as I slowly pulled it away, face flickering back and forth between fury and a fake smile. “Yes?” was all I could manage normally.

“Felix just woke up,” Alice said, clear confusion in her voice. “Dr. Oddswell doesn’t think the others will take much longer.”

They were...awake. My stomach dropped. Okay. More to deal with. That was okay. I took a deep breath and finally managed to keep my fake smile straight. I turned towards the angel. “That’s wonderful!” I walked to the door I caught a glimpse of the frowning stare she was giving me. Horsefeathers. She was sensing something.

In the hall, Dr. Oddswell was just reaching for the door. He nodded to us. “Hello Oddswell,” I said, my fake smile feeling more like clenched teeth.

The three of us walked in. I lingered in the doorway, watching. I needed to be able to walk away if necessary. If I had the chance. Felix was sitting up and talking to Boris, looking better than when he’d walked through the door to Granny’s the first time. Just then, Bendy started to stir. Boris jumped faster than a speedy rabbit and was at Bendy’s side in a second flat. “Bendy! You’re finally awake!”

The demon groaned “Uh?”

“You’ve been asleep for two days!” Boris immediately explained. Which was exactly what someone needed to hear five seconds after they woke up and still were disoriented.

Bendy groaned again, but Boris’ words seemed to catch up with him. “Two days!” He shot upright, and Boris had to grab him to keep him from falling.

“Careful! You’re still weak from healing,” Boris said. No kidding.

“What happened? Where are we? What happened to Alice?” Bendy demanded, head spinning around like a pinwheel.

And blah, blah, blah. Bendy was worried. Boris comforted him. The crack-head finally got his toosh up. His face hurt. I did smile at that one. Oddswell was a soulless reptile who lectured them for _bleeding over his carpet_. I wanted to smack him hard. Finally, we came to something worth listening too.

“Actually, you all are extremely lucky. That curse would have crashed your car...if your driver was driving any slower. It couldn’t catch up, and when it did, you were already giving me this back.” Alice gestured to her halo. “So, I was able to banish it before it could finish its work on you three.”

“Good to know Droopy drives faster than a demon can curse,” I commented. That dog really was amazing. It was like he had a special magic of his own. Like he really could just slip through time and space. It was brilliant.

Alice nodded, looking confused. “I’m not sure those are safe speeds to drive at, but this time, I’m grateful for it.” Of course they weren’t safe, but that was beside the point.

“That hellspawn scum tried to curse us?” Crack-head looked grumpy. Aw, poor crack-head. “He tried to kill us? Of cussing course he did. He’s always been a sore loser.”

“Don’t worry, Cuppy! Alice, Boris, and I already went to take care of that.” Mugs smiled. Well, that was strike two for tact. Within ten minutes too.

“You what!” He nearly fell out of bed. Well, maybe that was a nice move.  

“Careful Cups! You’re still weak--” The scarf tried to stop him.

“Sunblaze that! You went back!” ‘Ol crack-head pulled his brother into a mean nose to nose. “What did I tell you about doing risky stardust without me, huh! If he cursed us, he coulda done worse to you!”

“Alice, Boris, and I,” Scarf said, surprisingly collected. He looked at the other two for support. “Alice was able to get Hat to back down and let the other two angels go. It was actually a very civil thing. Nothing shady at all. He ain’t gonna bother us as long as we keep quiet about the whole thing.”

“And why would he do that?” Bendy demanded. “He wanted that halo back bad enough to nearly kill us for it!”

“That was because he didn’t like ‘losing’ to us,” the mug said calmly, finally pulling away from his brother. “But he doesn’t want to start another Angel-Demon War.”

“And if this got out, that’s exactly what would happen unless the demon king, the Devil, punished him or delivered him to the angels for punishment,” Alice said with a poker face. Miss ‘Call the police if we don’t come back before sunset.’ It was so twerked.  

“So, we’re just supposed to pretend none of this happened?” Felix asked. Unless we wanted a big, fat, scaley demon knocking on the walls. It would be nice if we could figure out a way to destroy that one. Goals. More research needed.

“Unless, you want to bring politics into it,” Alice sighed.

Blah, blah, blah again. They got upset over pointless trivialities that they weren’t willing to do anything about. Then, Oddswell said something that surprised me.

“Bendy, you had an Ink Attack while unconscious, but it appears that it wasn’t very bad. Not at all like the other one I was here for.” He narrowed his large, bulging eyes. “It’s almost like you reversed it.”

“I what?” Bendy gaped.

Boris, as eager as always, quickly explained. “You didn’t melt much. There was still a lot of ink, but it wasn’t like it has been. Dr. Oddswell thinks this is a really good thing.” The wolf smiled and wagged his tail.

When had _this_ happened? And why hadn’t I been there to see it?

“You think it was because I was out?” Bendy asked.

“No, I’ve had unconscious subjects before,” Oddswell said. “Did you happen upon something in that casino? Or it could have possibly been the Blue Fairy’s healing magic.” Oddswell nervously adjusted his glasses. Well, this was interesting. For some reason, Oddswell was so much more...readable. “We’ll have to see.”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Oddswell. I don’t really know. It...could have been Hat, but I have no idea what he did,” Bendy admitted. Oddswell’s eyes gleamed with worry.

“I want you three to take it easy today. Take rest, go for a walk, have a night out. You need a break, so don’t push yourselves,” the lizard said.

More blah. Really, did they all have to _talk_ so much? Alice had a private talk with Bendy and Boris, but from what I could tell, it wasn't really about anything important. We all came together again, and Boris wanted to go to the circus. The Warners wanted to cause trouble, but they had business to attend to. Well, weren’t they fun?

In the end, Boris and the others decided to go to the circus. Good. A nice distraction for them all. I slipped towards the door quietly, envisioning the cog already when the phone rang. I paused on the stairs. Bendy picked it up, and I listened. It sounded like Xedo had called. After a few moments he bid Xedo goodbye and hung up the phone. 

“What was that about?” Felix asked from the doorway. He had his hands in his pockets and a concerned expression on his face.

“The Sykes are missing, and their warehouse was burned to the ground last night,” Bendy said ominously. Well, ominously for them. 

“Golly,” Boris murmured. “Burned?” This was a distinct reminder that I needed to get back to the cog, finish my plan against Cala, find proof on those frauds. Ugh, I should be moving,  _now._

“Xedo wants us to watch out,” Bendy finished.

The cat adventurer nodded. “Sounds reasonable to me. The Sykes are dangerous after all.”

“We can take them,” Crack head said, trying to look tough. Bendy snorted, shaking his head.

“Well, we’re burning daylight, so we might as well go,” the demon said. The group headed towards the door, and I took another step up the stairs. Suddenly, I felt Alice’s hand on my elbow. “Um, Holly?” She smiled uncertainly. “Do you want to come?”

I felt the smile on my face stiffen. “Oh, that’s alright. Oddswell wanted me to do some tests.”

“But he said for everyone to take a break,” Alice pushed. “And it would be grand for all of us to spend time together. Can’t you do it later?” She gave me wide eyes.

It was strange. I felt something within me loosen. The expression she made was so full of goodness, sweetness. I still wanted to go back to the cog so badly it hurt, but the friendship in that expression somehow made it easier for me to wait. I let out a breath, and a real smile came to my face this time. “Okay. I guess you're right, having a break would be nice.”

She brightened up even more at my answer. “Oh, I’m so excited! I’ve never been to a circus before! Have you, Holly?” Alice asked.

I shrugged. “I went to visit the circus last week. I didn’t see the show. They looked pretty amazing to me, though.” I thought of the mounds of little rabbit children. The tight feeling inside loosened a bit more. I grinned at her. “They have all of these little rabbit children. They’re adorable!”

“Rabbit children?” Alice asked with big eyes. “What do they do? They work there?”

I put a finger to my lip, glancing at the demon on the phone. “They help set things up. I’m not sure what else they do.”

“This will be great!” Alice cheered.

With that, everyone gathered together, and we headed out the door. Alice and I talked a little bit about what sort of acts the circus did as the others walked in front of us. Crack-head and Bendy walked together at the front, Boris and scarf in the middle, and Felix somewhere in between them, Alice and I.

As we went down the sidewalk, I couldn’t help but look back at the house. I had a new symptom now. I could feel the intense energy fading with each step we walked away from the cog. I had to take several deep breaths before I could concentrate on what Alice was saying again.

“So, the elephants are for riders,” Alice said. “And the clowns are there to make us laugh, and that’s why they dress that way.”

I nodded. “And then, there are people who jump from swing to swing up in the air. Those are my favorite.”

Alice smiled. “You’d like the flight shows in the Upper, then. They do all sorts of tricks and twirls.”

My eyes widened. “Flight show? That sounds amazing!”

“Yeah!” Alice grinned. “They were usually new angels learning how to fly, fight and such, but visitors and those without wings enjoy watching the training so much that there’s a scheduled show of flight maneuvers and tricks about once a month now.”

I looked up as we walked. “I have to go visit the Upper someday. I’ll bet I’d learn all sorts of amazing things.”

“It is quite a sight to see,” Felix commented with a smile. “I never got tired of it when I visited.”

My mouth turned into an ‘O.’ “Why did you visit the Upper, Mr. Felix?”

Felix chuckled. “I wanted to understand the difference in runes, and one of the few cultures that still use runes openly is the angels. They have a great library that’s open to the public, though I couldn't get in the Sanctuary to see the more historical works.”

I nearly stopped in my tracks. “They have an entire library open to the public?” And the runes! I’ll bet there were all sort of clever things I could learn to do with my runes if I watched their techniques.

“Yes, but angel runes are different. Most people don’t have the magical capacity to perform angel magic,” Felix said.

I didn’t need to use their runes. I’d tried to cross that bridge before, and I’d learned quickly that I simply didn’t have the magical energy to use their…

Wait a second.

I didn’t have any limitations anymore.

Alice nodded. “We have our halos, and it takes years of practice and meditation to control the energy properly.” Well, that would be a problem then, but even if for now I simply imitated what I saw of the angel runes with Micco runes, I bet I could learn a whole lot.

I smiled slowly. “That makes sense. Still, I’m curious about the differences between Angel and Micco runes, as well. Do you think you might be willing to show me some when you have a free moment?”

Alice smiled. “Absolutely!”

Just then, we got to the circus, and I was distracted by several side shows that were running. I grinned as three bunny children holding a circular grip flew by on a swing just above a small pool of water.

“Yipee!” one of them cried out as she let go and landed in the water with a splash.

“That looks like fun!” Alice grinned.

The other two spun around again. “Weeee!” The second one let go and landed, spraying the audience, including us.

I wiped my face. “Definitely,” I said, raising a brow at Alice.

“Are those the children you were tell me about?” She was wringing water out of her hair, looking more like she was doing a commercial than being a soaked audience member. Several guys who were passing did a double take.

“Yup.” I leaned down and shook out my hair. “But that’s only three of them. There are many, many more.”

She laughed. “What’s that over there?” The others had missed the splash and the bunnies. They were next to a hammer game, and the scarf had just picked up the mallet.

I watched with interest. Just how strong were the killers really? He slammed it down, hitting ‘amateur.’ I felt vaguely disappointed. Well, obviously his power was in that strange finger charge or...that teleportation ability? “It’s a game to test your strength.”

“Strength? How?” Alice watched closer.

The other one grabbed the mallet. Maybe he was better? Wham. ‘Works out,’ was what he got, just above his brother. I clicked my tongue. Strength. Ironically not their greatest strength. I smiled at Alice. “So, when you hit that button it sends a burst of air up the tube. The air in turn projects that piece of metal up, showing how strong you are.”

We arrived just behind everyone else. Felix picked up the hammer next. He made sure he had a good grip, adjusting his paws and tightening his fingers. Then, he swung it over his shoulder and pounded it on the button.

The machine whirred and hit ‘tough guy.’ I grinned. Mr. Felix really was the most amazing toon ever. He was smart, brave, talented _and_ strong.

Felix handed the mallet to Boris, who looked excited to take his shot. He raised the mallet above his head and gave it a mighty swing. The red line blipped, just barely hitting ‘marshmallow.’ I snickered. Poor Boris. And he wanted so hard to be strong like the other boys.

He scowled and handed the hammer to Alice. Alice quickly handed it to me. I wasn’t sure whether Alice was just avoiding doing it or if she was being polite, but I gave her an amused look before taking it.

I had no great expectations about what I’d hit. I probably wouldn’t even get ‘marshmallow,’ but still, this was all for the fun of it, right? I took a grounding step and smacked the button.

I got right under the marshmallow. It said, ‘first swing.’

Just about what I’d expected. I handed the hammer to Alice.

Alice was smiling. She took the hammer. “Well, here I go!” I grinned. After what had happened outside of the Sykes warehouse, I knew this was going to be good.

The hammer hit with a POW, and the bell exploded with sound. But my hands were already over my ears. I turned and grinned at Alice as the others reeled. “You’re abilities just constantly amaze me.” I laughed. Alice grinned widely.

“Good heavens, woman! You’re a beast!” I noticed there was a clown standing next to the bell. Sadly, it wasn’t Koko. “Nice job.”

“So, I did it right?” Alice asked. The clown hunched over and wiped away a tear as he laughed. I gave Alice a side hug.  

Just then, Bendy strutted up, eyeing the mallet with a smirk. He obviously intended to try and beat Alice. “Bendy, don’t you break it,” Boris said in warning.  

Bendy paused, hands just barely on the hammer. “Fine,” he said in a light tone, rolling his eyes. I glanced between Boris and Bendy. Oh, this might get really interesting as well.

WHAM!

The bell hit so hard it made me go cross-eyed, I’d barely covered my ears in time. I swear, Bendy was humming proudly as he walked away. I nearly laughed. He was having a real fine time.

A couple different places caught everyone’s attention after that. We went from baseball booth to pea shooting to a ring toss. By then, the show was about to start, so we got popcorn as a group and went to the stands.

The sheer amount of smiling faces made me smile in return. The risers circling the pit were enormous, and every seat was filled. My chest loosened and then loosened. For some reason, my head felt heavier too. 

The crowd started to roar as a crew of performers entered the stage. A beautiful lady rode in on an elephant who raised his hat to the crowd.

Once they got to the center of the ring, the girl stood at the highest point on the elephant’s back. She did several flips across him, finally landing just at the peak of his head.

Out of nowhere, a man swung down on a trapeze, catching her wrists. They sailed away, and she flipped and caught the bar of another trapeze.

It made the crowd gasp, and I laughed. The way that they could move through the air with such ease was beautiful.

The act changed again. The trapeze artists swung back and forth, crossing each other as they jumped from swing to swing. Then, the male artist dropped. A gasp ran through crowd, but the elephant's long trunk extended, catching him and projecting him back up to the swing. The girl did the same and in a moment they were in a circle, the elephant catching as the one dropped while the other swung back to the left to drop again.

The elephant was juggling the trapeze artists in a perfect circle.

I was so focused on them that I didn't even notice when a clown climbed the steps next to us. “Hey! It is you! Holly!” He grinned.

I blinked. “Hello Koko.” I smiled at the cheerful clown.

“You know a clown?” Scarf asked.

“She knows us. She knows a bunch of clowns.” Alice smiled. I grinned at her.

Koko laughed. “That was a good one, little miss!”

Koko’s eyes started to drift and landed on Bendy and Boris. “And you two are the Bbros! The mouse will want to see you after the show!” Koko's face turned to something akin to glee.

I turned to grin at Boris but then stopped. Bendy was smiling, but it wasn't big, not like his real smile. It was too pressed. What was that about?

“So, no luck with Betty and Bimbo, uh?”

I blinked. I'd completely forgotten about that. “No, not really. They’ve been wrapped up in each other.” I shrugged. “I’m sorry.”

Alice leaned forward, her eyes glittering. “You know Betty and Bimbo?”

Koko’s smile widened. “I’m an ol’ chum of theirs! Bimby has some grudge issue with Mickey and Oswald though, so he doesn’t come around. Think he’s mad at me too. That was years ago, so I wanna patch things up with that stubborn dog.”

“Good luck,” Cup muttered. I glared at him. This oversized china cabinet. It wasn’t even any of his business.

Alice seemed saddened by what Koko had said. She gave him an encouraging smile. “Well, you should come by the shop sometime. I’m sure Holly  and I can help.”

Koko’s eyes widened, and he snapped his fingers. “That’d be swell. Now, you folks enjoy the show!” He waved and went back to the ring.

Alice and I waved as he left, but then the Crack-head leaned over, that stupid smirk on his face. “Golly Holly, what kinda company do you keep outside of this circle from that house?” He snickered.

This bozo was really getting on my nerves. I dredged up my stiffest, most ‘you don’t matter to me’ smile and turned. “Why all sorts. The people in the city are all so interesting.” I tilted my head and turned back. “Though, not everyone is my cup of tea.”

Cup raised a brow and snorted a laugh.

Alice blinked, and a moment later, I heard Bendy tell him to shush. What? I wasn’t like I’d yelled at him or openly insulted him. I thought of Cala. I hadn’t even tried to properly study him like I wanted to. I still needed a way to find her. I knew what I could do once that happened, but until then...She said she’d found a way on land. Once she had that, she would come right here and everyone would get upset. No one seemed to understand that these people were really the menace. These people were the ones who needed to be stopped. 

And here I was, with an item of unfathomable power within easy reach to solve such problems. And I was sitting here laughing at clowns.

Despicable.

The show continued, but I couldn’t concentrate. That pain in my system, the desire to go to the cog was overwhelming to the point that I was digging my fingernails into the wood of the seat. I told Alice I needed to get a drink and snuck my way back out of the arena. Outside, I stood near one of the food vendors, breathing hard and leaning against a wall as I considered my options for handling the gorgon.

She had the assassin's trust. And considering her deceptively soft demeanor, if she were to talk to anyone at the house, they would believe her without a second thought. My options at this point really consisted of two things.

Find a way to keep her from coming back.

Or find her and stop her personally.

I was still interested in asking her questions, so it would be more convenient if I could trap her. But now, she knew to be wary of me. The first step to that objective would be to find a way to track her down.

“Excuse me, miss?” a small voice squeaked.

I blinked, biting down a flash of anger at the interruption. “What?” I looked around.

“Are you okay, miss? My friend saw you over here, and you seem to be in some kind of distress. Did you lose someone?” It was a mouse. A small one, sitting in the hat of a small elephant, most likely a baby with the world’s biggest ears.

I eyed the two of them. Well, it wasn’t like it would hurt. “I have lost someone, actually. But not here. And I’m not sure how to find her again. You see, she’s mad at me. It upsets me greatly. And I oh-so-wish I could find her. Do you have any idea what I could do?”

“Golly, that does sound like a problem. Have you tried asking other friends where she might be?” the mouse asked. The elephant made a noise. “That’s right, Dumbo! You could leave her a note too! Somewhere easy for her to come by.”

I blinked at him. Use her friends to find her? An idea hit me like a brick. Why…That was brilliant! I knew what I could do now. Why hadn’t I thought of it before? I leaned down and gave the baby elephant a kiss. “Thank you so much!” Then, I leaned over and gave the mouse a gentle kiss as well. “I know how I can find her now!” The elephant blushed and hid in his ears.

The mouse got a little darker. “Aw, it was nothing. We’re just glad we could help, miss.” The elephant made a small squeal. “Oh! Our act is next! Dumbo, we have to go!”

I waved at them as they left, my mouth wide in my biggest grin.

Cala had given the scarf a pearl, a pearl that would bring her to him if he cast it into the water.

But first, I had to steal it. And come up with a way to stop her from using another of those annoying Ulu Shells.

Well, if she was unconscious, I could take any shells from her.

That had been an easy solution to figure out. Why hadn’t I just sat down and thought that through before? I heard a cheer from inside the arena and saw the elephant fly up in the sky. And I needed to get those two a thank you gift.

I got back to the stands just as their act finished to my disappointment. But I was cheerful again. I was one step closer to my goals. I just needed to come up with a plan for the other two. But I would wait for that until I had another quiet moment. Perhaps, when I got back to the cog.  

The rest of the circus just flew by. Mickey was out on the stage, cheerful as usual. I even saw his eyes light up when he caught a glimpse of the group...well, when he saw Boris really. He really had a thing for that dog, didn’t he?

The moment the group tried to leave the stands, Felix, Bendy and Boris were practically mauled by the crowd. Crack-head had to fish Bendy and Boris out, and Koko helped Felix. Alice and I had no trouble getting through the crowd though. It was nice and slightly amusing to watch the crowd gush over the three boys.

Koko brought us back down the same road he had taken me to visit Goofy. With a smart rap on the front door, Koko gave his signature smile and bounced away.

“What an interesting fellow,” Felix said, watching him go.  

“He should be, he’s a clown,” crack-head said.

The door swung open, and suddenly Boris was being squished by Mickey Mouse. I stared. Was it just me or did this feel just a little weird? Hadn’t Boris and Mickey only met a few times briefly? What had Koko said? Sometimes, it only takes once. Why?

“Mr. Mickey! It’s so good to see you again!” Boris grinned at him, his smile beaming like the weapon it was. With that sort of cuteness, the kid could knock someone out on accident.

“You too! And goodness! You brought a number of friends!” Mickey let go and looked around.

Boris was like a child at a candy shop. He was bouncing with energy. “Yeah! This is Mugman, Cuphead, Alice, Holly and--”

“Mr. Felix! It’s good to see you again!” Mickey immediately turned to Felix and offered him a hand.

Boris raised a curious ear. “You know him?”

Felix smiled at Boris. “We’ve run into each other a couple of times. How are you and the family?” He turned back to the mouse.

“Great! The kids will be excited to see you again!” Mickey said with a cheerful grin.

“And your brother?” Felix didn’t look directly at Mickey when he asked, and his face darkened. I narrowed my eyes. Huh?

Mickey’s eyes lit up. “He’s a lot better too. He’ll wanna see you too.” Felix looked up and nodded at Mickey for half a second before his eyes went back down to his shoes. His face was getting darker by the moment.  

That look? But I had to be wrong, didn’t I? People blushed and looked away for all sorts of reasons, didn’t they?

“And Holly! It’s good to see you again! Thank you for bringing everyone here!” I blinked as Mickey’s voice distracted me from my thought. He was smiling at me, hands on hips. Once again, I’d completely forgot about something someone had asked me to do.

So, I smiled instead. “Oh, I didn’t need to. They all were so excited to come see your circus. You are all so talented.”

“It’s the best!” Boris added, bouncing again.

Mickey laughed, scratching the back of his head. “Ah shucks. You should tell the kids that! I don’t do much.”

“Yeah right! You’re the best Mr. Mickey!” Boris disagreed.

“Well, come in!" Mickey waved at the group. "We have some time to relax a little. Once Oswald gets back, we can go to dinner, my treat!” Mickey said. I stopped and blinked. And which diner had Goofy said was Mickey’s favorite? The one that was one of the few open this late? Pete’s? This was going to be rich. The rune I had cast was still good for at least four more days.

I cleared my throat to get Mickey’s attention. “You wouldn’t be thinking of going to P--.” It wouldn’t do to clue Bendy and Boris in on where we were going. “The cafe where Max works?”

Mickey blinked and looked at me. “Well, I don’t know. Max would love to see you again. He heard about your thoughtful invite and wanted to thank you on his and his girlfriend’s behalf.”

I grinned. “Oh, he’s so sweet.” This was going to be hilarious. I couldn’t believe I had been embarrassed to go back before. I was going to enjoy every minute of watching Pete’s frustration.

We all sat down in Mickey’s living room. “Sit down, relax. We have a bit of time. How have you been since that trial?” Mickey turned to Boris. “The doctor got out too, so that has to be good news.”

Boris’ ears went up. “Oh, it is! Things are a lot better now! The hospitals are helping, the doctor’s pain pills are being made in other places, and we found another way to help fight off the illness’ affects.” Mickey sat down next to the boy. His tail was wagging so hard it kept on hitting the side of the couch. “And with our friends’ help, I’m sure will find a cure soon,” Boris finished.

“Absolutely.” Felix smiled brightly. Alice nodded. I smiled in agreement.

Mickey’s smile flickered. My smile faded a little. We had just affirmed that things were going great, and he was...upset? “Oh? Has the doctor found something?”

“You’ve heard the rumors of the machine, right?” Boris asked, gaining some seriousness.

Mickey blinked. “Oh, well. A little. I have been so busy I don’t know the details.” I couldn’t blame him for that. They seemed to have a busy time here.

“Well, it’ll have made the cure,” Boris explained.

“Have they found it?” Mickey asked, looking skeptical. Boris paused. There it was again! We had good news, progress, and Mickey was acting as if it were more of a problem. And _they_ ? Boris and Bendy were the ones who had started this. What other people did he mean? It almost felt as if he were belittling Boris’ role in this, and it rubbed against my nerves like sandpaper.

“Oh, uh, no, not yet," Boris stuttered in surprise. "But it’s only a matter of time!” Boris grabbed back onto his enthusiasm, smiling brightly.

Mickey smiled back at him, but it wasn’t genuine. Funny, how I was starting to recognize more and more fake smiles. “Well, in the meantime, there is still a job here for you.” Mickey clapped a hand down on the wolf. _In the meantime?_ _A job?_ Just what was going on here? There was something definitely strange about the way Mickey was acting.

“You can work here at the circus Boris! That’s berries!” the Scarf cut in.

“N-no! It wouldn’t be anything special--” Boris looked embarrassed and slightly excited, like he was trying to press it down. Was this something he’d talked with the mouse about before?

“Nothing special! No way, Boris! We definitely need a good fix-it man! This place would fall apart instantly without good maintenance.” Mickey chuckled. My eyes narrowed. He did have a fix-it man. Goofy.

“Sorry, Mr. Mickey, the answer is the same as last time.” Boris shrugged, a little bit of light fading from his smile.

Mickey’s smile fell. “That’s too--”

“What kind of work?” Suddenly, Bendy spoke up. I blinked at him. Mickey turned slowly.

“Oh, uh, mechanic maintenance and such.” Mickey smiled, not looking at Bendy directly. He started to turn away again.

“Show us,” Bendy persisted, standing. “You said we have some time before dinner. We might as well have a look.”

Mickey stared at him. He turned to Boris. “Would you like to see Boris?”

“Really?” Boris’ eyes grew a few inches bigger, I swear. The wolf looked at his brother, who agreed. “Absolutely!” the wolf sang.

“O-okay! Follow me!” Mickey still looked shaken as he went to the door. I eyed him as I rose with everyone else. What was it about the way he acted that was so fishy? 


	72. November 2, Wednesday (Part Three)

“It’s Mista Felix!” There was a cry as we all walked out the door. Nearly fifty small bunnies tackled the cat, completely making him disappear. My jaw dropped.

“Mr. Felix? You okay?” Bendy was in front, turning with a worried expression.

“Fine! Hello lovelies! It’s good to see you sweeties again. Wanna come with us?” I heard Felix’s voice, a little muffled, from underneath the mound.

“Yes!” The mound sang like a choir. Then, it started to move in the direction of the others, Felix still inside. Felix...had just been abducted...by an army of tiny rabbits.  
A moment later Felix surfaced, though. He straightened himself out, and I saw Bendy go up to talk to him.

“--ll of them?” I caught the end of scarf asking something.

“All of them.” Felix nodded. All of them?

“How--” the assassin asked with big eyes.

“Four hundred and twenty,” Felix answered as both assassins just blinked at him. Oh, the little bunnies.

“Oh my.” Alice giggled. I looked at Alice and giggled as well.

Sooner rather than later, we found our way back to Goofy’s junk heap.

Bendy, Boris, crack-head, scarf and Mickey all gathered around a broken cotton candy machine and started talking. Felix had tried to join them, but he had been ambushed by another bunny army.

I looked at Alice. “Should we help him?”

She shrugged. “I guess it can’t be helped. They’ll sweep him away again if we don’t.” She laughed and approached the pile of fur. I followed. “Hello, I’m Alice. I’m a friend of Mr. Felix’.” Several round eyes turned on her. Strangely, it almost reminded me of a show I had seen once of a large swarm of piranhas. Except...much cuter. But slightly intimidating.

“You’re really pretty,” one of them said.

Alice grinned. “Thank you! And this is Holly. She is also a friend.” She gestured a hand to me.

I smiled at them, crouching down. “Hello kiddies.”

“Hello!” they all said.

“Do you go on adventures too?” one of them shouted out from the group.

I tilted my head. “No.” I tapped the bunny’s nose. “I make my own adventures.”

Alice covered her mouth with her hands like she was telling them a secret. “Like when she and Mr. Felix came and rescued me!”

Several bunnies gasped. Some hopped around her to get closer. Felix was revealed again. “From what?” one of the kids are her feet asked with excited eyes. Oh, so we had a storyteller here.

“An evil Overlord of Darkness.” Alice wiggled her fingers at them. Some of them screamed, others laughed.

I leaned down to one of the other bunnies that was still distracted as Alice told her story. “Want to learn a fun game?” I whispered.

“Yes!” the child turned to me, nose twitching.

“Okay,” I said softly. “But we have to be very quiet or I might not be able to show you. Okay?”

“Okay,” the bunny whispered behind her paws.

I pulled out a little piece of chalk and snapped it in half, handing one section to her.

“Now, draw exactly what I’m drawing dear, right next to your brother over there.”

“Okay,” she whispered and held the chalk carefully.

I drew the little symbol on the ground and watched carefully as she made her own, just behind a brother who was entranced by Alice’s story. I leaned in next to her and whispered. “Now, feel inside of you and push.”

The little bunny scrunched her nose in concentration. The rune lit up faintly, and suddenly, her brother’s fur poofed like he’d just been blow dried. “He-hey!” he called out in surprise. The little bunny girl giggled in glee. He tried in vain to brush his fur down.

“Oh dear.” Felix approached the kid. “Wait a moment I think I can help.”  He picked the bunny up. However, the moment that he touched the small rabbit, his fur poofed up the same way, making Felix look more like a house tabby than the fierce tiger he usually did. “Mero?” escaped his mouth as he jumped about a foot in the air. I looked away, tears formed in my eyes as I tried to keep from laughing. The little bunny girl just gave up and started to laugh.

“Oh no! Mista Felix!” several children cried. They went to hug Felix, causing each of them to poof up as well.

“Oh my!” Alice said with a laugh. “Seems you’re in a hairy situation Felix.” I burst into helpless giggles.

“I’m fine!” he laughed. The cat fluff ball reached into his bag, and in a sprinkle of stars, pulled out a brush. He started with the first fluffy ball that he had picked up and brushed his fur down. It seemed to work when he was done. He switched to another and another. However, by this time it seemed that the bunny children had taken it as a game. The floofy ones had started to run around, chasing the normal ones and trying to touch them. The normal ones screamed in delight as they tried to keep away, but more and more bunny children were coming to the side of the floofy. A few escaped to where Bendy was working.

I grinned as I got an evil idea. I leaned down to whisper to one of the puffed up bunnies. “You should go touch Bendy.”

The bunny giggled and started to hop towards him, but at the last second Felix caught him. Alice jumped in to stop some others who also seemed to like the idea. In doing so, her hair fluffed into an afro. I had to turn around, holding my stomach as I died of laughter. Still, Alice continued to laugh as she caught and turned back bunny after bunny. Felix had pulled out a huge butterfly net. I stared. It was like the carnival games again. He was fast and precise.  

“Alright now, fun’s over. We need to get straightened out before dinner,” Felix said.

“Awwww,” some booed.

“I’ll brush,” Felix offered. “But you have to line up and not touch the floofys after I’m done. If you do, you can explain to your uncle why you are a puffball.” Several giggled, but the kids lined up in front of Felix as he worked quickly to de-fluff them.

“Do you have a second brush?” Alice asked.

“Sure!” Felix reached into his bag and pulled out another one. With the angel’s help, the work was done super fast. Seeing that this was the end of my prank, I started to help the bunnies line up. We had just finished as Bendy and the crack-head arrived. Some of the bunnies started to talk to Bendy, but I had something else in mind that I wanted to do. I drifted over to where Boris and Mickey were working.

I crouched next to them. “How’s it going?”

Boris glanced up with a smile. He had a grease stain on his cheek. “Great! We’re almost done installing this replacement fan, and then, it’ll be good to go! No more overheating problems.”

“He works so fast!” Mickey chuckled. “It’s mesmerizing to watch.”

I grinned at Boris. “You’re such a young genius.”

I turned to Mickey. “He and Bendy do such good work don’t you think?”

“No kidding!” Mickey looked around the finished machines and structures. “This is going to save us so much time! Goofy will be so excited. Can we pay you, Boris?”

Boris flushed. “Wh-No! No! This was a favor. We were just in the area. Besides, I think Bendy has been itching to work on something for a while now.”

Mickey shook his head. “Nonsense, with work this expert, you should be rewarded. Let me give you something for your troubles. You said you were tight on money anyway.” Mickey grinned.

I tilted my head at Mickey. He wasn’t acting strange like he had before. Maybe I had just looked too far into those non-verbal cues. I smiled at him and then at Boris. “Personally, I think you should take the money, Boris.” I shrugged.

Boris ducked his head and blushed. “Well, that’s very kind of you Mr. Mickey.”

Mickey laughed and patted Boris on the back. “No, you’re the kind one. Goofy can probably take a day off or a whole weekend now!” Boris’ blush got darker. Mickey pulled out a wallet and reached in. “Here, this would be the wage for all the work, so don’t worry about it.”

Boris took the cash and counted it. His eyes widened. He opened his mouth, but Mickey was already talking. “Like I said, that’s the wage. I won’t hear any protests. I’m a fair boss.”

“Th-th-thank you Mr. Mickey! Golly! Bendy is gonna be so surprised!” Bendy gapped.

Mickey blinked. “Didn’t you get paid well at that mechanic shop?”

“Oh, well...It was a small town. And, uh, we aren’t licensed or anything,” Boris mumbled and put the money in his pocket. My brow twitched. Maybe I should think about what other interesting runes I could test and use with that schmuck Pete as a the subject.

Mickey frowned. “Well.” He smiled again. “That would be your usual if you ever decide to stay here.” Boris nodded with a shy smile.

I turned and saw the mound of bunnies stampede towards a figure. Oswald. I turned back to Mickey. “Your brother is here.”

“Wonderful! We can go eat!” Mickey brightened more. The three of us walked over to the group, Boris’ tail wagging.  

“Hey Ozzy!” Mickey called, moving a little faster to reach his brother. “Where’s Donald and Goofy?” I wasn’t sure whether the rabbit would have heard him, because at that moment, he was engulfed by the bunnies who had been with Felix a moment ago.

“They’re already at the restaurant. Who are all of these people?” ‘Ozzy’ asked, his head appearing from the mound as he started to get up.

“Ozzy, this is Boris, Cuphead, and Mugman.” Mickey gestured to them. “And that over there is Alice and Holly, and you remember--”

“Felix! Nice to see you again!” Oswald quickly went over to the cat and grabbed his hand in a shake. Felix looked anywhere but the bunny.

“Hello, Oswald,” Felix mumbled. “Glad to see you’re doing well.” I stared as the blush started to spread across his face again. Finally, I looked away. Whatever was happening here, I had other things to think about. I eyed the assassins. Like my next move concerning them.

“Everyone, this is my brother Oswald,” Mickey said cheerfully.

“It’s a pleasure.” Alice nodded helpfully.

“Nice to meet you,” I said distractedly. How could I get the pearl from the scarf? These two were far too smart and alert for me to steal it directly without them noticing. Not to mention, subtle theft wasn’t my strength.

An idea popped into my head.

But.

When I’d searched the crack-head while he was unconscious, it had been _easy_. So, what if I waited until tonight while everyone was asleep used my magic to keep them down? I clicked my tongue as the others continued to talk. And if I touched the cog it would be no trouble to use it on everyone in the house at the same time to make sure no one woke up while I did my work.

I smiled. Then I could go to the docks. It would be easy to break into a boathouse. A nice private place. I could use that same spell to put Cala asle--. Wait. Everyone would be unconscious. Spelled asleep. _Wait_. That would offer more opportunities than just theft. My mouth hovered open, and I let out a breath. Well, this could solve many problems. But I’d have to prepare first.

Everyone started to move, and I blinked looking up. Alice was looking at me with, her brows down, and her lips turned in a small frown. I closed my mouth and pasted on a smile. “I’m sorry, Alice. I was lost in my own world. Did you say something?” I walked after the others.

“Nothing really important,” Alice murmured. “Holly, are you feeling okay?” She put a hand on my arm.

This was odd, why would she...Oh.

She was sensing my emotions again.

I knew that I would end up hating that ability.

I stopped for half a second, smile flickering. “I...I’m just still struggling being around those two.” I jerked my head at the assassins in front of us. “It’s nothing.”

Alice glanced at them. “They really aren’t that bad, I think.” Her eyes shifted to Mickey. “But there’s something about him…”

I perked up. So, I hadn’t been imagining things! “What?”

She shook her head with a frown. “It’s rude to talk about someone’s emotions,” she murmured but frowned. “But he’s really worried about Boris. _Really_ worried...and his reaction to the news about the machine. He was sad. But why?”

I tilted my head. “I noticed that too. Why would he feel that way about the machine?”

“I have no clue. But it’s odd,” Alice muttered. She shook her head. “But it’s none of my business. I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry.”

I shrugged. “Don’t worry. I won’t spread it.”

We ended helping to clean up the house when we arrived there. Even more bunnies showed up, leaping off chairs and sliding down banisters. When the chaos finally settled down, the bunnies started to plead that they wanted to come as well. The little girl bunny I’d taught the rune tugged at my skirt.

“Will you come back to me more?” she asked, still holding the chalk I gave her.

I smiled and bent down, cupping my hands around her face. “Of course, little one. What’s your name, darling?”

“Frilly.” She smiled. She...purred. Like a cat. She purred and rubbed her cheek against my palm.

“Oh, what a pretty name. I’ll come see you again, Frilly.” What an angel.

“Okay, it’s a promise,” she said.

With that, the group started walking to the restaurant. That’s when things started to feel very strange. Somehow, Mickey, Boris, Oswald, Felix, Alice and I ended up at the front while Bendy, Crack-head and Scarf were at the back.

Mickey kept an upbeat conversation going with those of us that were at the front, but when it came to Bendy and the cups...it was almost like they weren’t even there. Mickey would make a joke, compliment Boris on his mechanical work, but the way he spoke… “ _You_ must have been so patient to work at a shop that didn’t pay you enough. Of course the jury had ruled ‘Innocent’ because _Boris_ was a swell pup.” It was starting to get on my nerves. Should I be worried about this weirdo being obsessed with Boris?

Just then, Boris half turned, looking at his brother and the assassins. “What?” He looked confused. “What did Cup do?”

My attention was instantly riveted to the three at the back. What? “Remember that last time we tried to eat at this place, bro?” Bendy smirked, and Boris’ eyes lit up with understanding.

“Bendy! That’s not funny!” Boris said, frowning.

“He’ll apologize! It’ll be fine.” Bendy waved a dismissive hand. He’ll _apologize_? What did he do? What did he do? What-did-he-do.

“Wait, you two are brothers?” Oswald blinked, also turning. I frowned. He hadn’t known that? Hadn’t Mickey introduced every--I blinked and thought some more. Wait. Mickey had introduced everyone...but Bendy. I turned slowly towards the mouse, a spark of anger alighting inside me. Obsessed with Boris. Leaving Bendy out of the conversation. Neglecting to introduce him. What was going on with this mouse? Was he trying to replace himself as Boris’ brother or something?

“Yeah! Bendy’s my big brother!” Boris answered with a cheerful smile. Oswald raised a brow, a half smile on his face as he looked at Bendy. “He’s the best!”

“Big brother, huh?” The rabbit smirked. “And you’re letting him hog all the attention?” Oh, so now Alice and I weren’t the only ones who’d noticed something odd going on.

Bendy shrugged. “I don’t need it.” I pressed my lips together, looking at him. But there was a difference between not wanting attention and being invisible.

“Boris, is there something we don’t know?” Mickey asked, putting a hand on the wolf’s shoulder. I grit my teeth. _What something?_ And why was he asking Boris instead of Bendy?

“Oh, it’s…” He looked at Bendy.

Mickey seemed to _sense_ this, and he raised his hands in a hurry as Bendy opened his mouth. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. Don’t worry!” Mickey smiled again at Boris. Bendy stood there, a frown on his face and his mouth half open. He didn’t want Bendy to speak. He didn’t want Bendy to be involved at all! What was with _this schmuck_.

“You sure, Mr. Mickey?” Boris, looking down with embarrassment.

“Absolutely!” Mickey grinned and gave Boris a side hug. He turned quickly away from the demon, pulling the wolf with him. My jaw dropped.

“So, you’ve been working as a mechanic with your brother for five years?” Oswald asked. “Not bad.”

“I’m still learning, but Bendy is an genius!” Boris said cheerfully.

“Nonsense, you did great today, Boris!” Mickey said. “I think you have amazing talent!” I just narrowed my eyes, feeling the anger building.

Boris gave a blush. “Th-thank you.”

“And what are you doing now, kiddo?” Mickey asked.

“Mostly traveling with Bendy and the rest to help Dr. Oddswell,” Boris said shrugging.

“Huh, how do you make ends meet?” the rabbit asked, his hands still in his pockets.

“Oh, we’ve been staying with the doctor. Our money is getting a bit tight,” Boris said quietly. I blinked. I hadn’t thought of that. These two had been traveling for months now with no jobs.

“You should come to the circus to earn a bit! You can’t go hungry.” Mickey’s eyes widened, his hand coming up.

The wolf shook his head and laughed. “Oh no, Granny would never let us go hungry.”

“Too true!” the scarf said from behind.

“And if she didn’t, I would feed you!” Alice declared. “I can’t let my heroes go hungry!” I mentally applauded Alice, but I was still too angry to smile.

Mickey and Oswald laughed. “Heroes, huh?” Oswald asked.

“Oh yes! Bendy and Boris are very heroic people!” Alice smiled.

“They’ve helped a lot of people,” I added. Both of them.

“Yeah, that’s true,” the scarf pitched in again.

“Absolutely,” Felix said from the other side of the group.

“Yeah, Bendy has been a real lifesaver,” crack-head said with a smile.

“Well berries.” Oswald smirked. “Who knew I was amongst such examples.”

Bendy snorted, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking away. “No way. I’m just a fella trying to get by.”

“Oh, and humble too!” Oswald smirked.

“Yeah right! This guys’ ego could move the moon,” crack-head threw in.

“No, no, that’s your head.” Bendy smirked back at him. Oswald laughed. My frown deepened. Bendy and the crack-head's attachment was growing really strong.

“So Boris, what are your goals for later in life?” Mickey interrupted suddenly. “What do you want to do? Travel? Go to school? Go back home?”

“Well, Bendy and I always thought about opening our own shop and keep doing the mechanic thing. We’d teach and hire folks that’d need the help.” Boris shrugged. “Like we got help.”

“That’s really something.” Mickey smiled. “And generous. Who taught you to fix cars?”

“Jack and Turney, a couple of old grumps. They weren’t the nicest about it, but they did help us,” Boris said. “We’ll be nicer though, uh Bendy?”

“Yeah,” Bendy said with a good smile.

“Of course you’re nice, Boris. I can’t imagine you not being so! You’re a swell young man. So, you want to own your own business,” Mickey mused. “It takes a lot of work.” There it was again. _Boris’_ own business when Boris had just said both he and his brother were going to run it.

“Like when you and Mr. Oswald started out?” Boris asked.

“Yeah, we made a lot of mistakes back then,” Mickey said, looking like he was far away. He smiled, coming back again. “Hey Boris, how about I show you the ropes so you can avoid those kinda things?” Just how long was he going to keep doing this?

Oswald smirked. “Yeah kid. Avoid our mess.”

“That’d be great!” Boris said.

“But how much is a circus like a car shop?” Boris asked, confused.

“Well, business is always business,” Mickey said. “You have assets, liabilities, and your money flow. There will be supplies you’ll need and a location to run a business. For you, you’ll need a license to operate too.”

Boris’ tail slowed, and his ears fell. ““Golly, that sounds like a lot.”

I blinked and stopped glaring as I felt Alice tug on my sleeve “What’s a license?”

“Oh.” I glanced back at her. “You need permission from the city to run a business. A license is a written document giving you permission.”

Mickey chuckled, patting Boris on the back. “It can feel overwhelming, but you have books that help keep track of everything.”

“And what about the license?” Boris asked.

“We can look into it.” Mickey petted his head. My eye twitched. _We_ can look into it? This self-inserting, egotistical, puffed up rat.

“Would it have to be both of us?” Suddenly, Bendy cut into the conversation again.

“Uh?” Mickey’s shoulders hunched, and he turned back a little. “Oh, um.” The mouse bit his lip. “I-I’m not sure.” He shrugged and quickly turned back.

Then, he continued to talk to Boris like Bendy hadn’t said a thing! “So, once the licensing is done, you’ll need to find a spot to open shop,” Mickey said.

Bendy spoke up again. “Why aren’t you sure?” It made me feel a little bit of satisfaction that Bendy wasn’t letting the mouse’s stardust slide.

“What?” Mickey blinked, turning back again. He didn’t really look directly at the demon.

“Is the license for Boris to own the business?” Bendy asked, his tone harsh.

“Well, yes,” Mickey said slowly.

“So, would I need to get one too or can both of us be on one?” Bendy asked like he was talking to a toddler.

Mickey looked at his brother and then at the ground and then at Bendy again. He was squirming. “Uh, b-both your names can go on one license,” he squeaked.

“Are you okay, Mr. Mickey?” Boris asked.

“Fine! I’m fine!” Mickey grinned and turned back to Boris. “And are you ever thinking of going to school or heading somewhere to learn more?”

“Uh.” Boris seemed to see that something strange was going on now. He frowned, looking back at his brother and then the mouse.

“We’ll work on it ourselves,” Bendy cut in. “Boris is a quick learner.”

Mickey smiled, turning back to the wolf. “Boy, I’ll say. You figured out half that stuff in the back in no time! That helped us out a bunch!”

Crackhead scowled. “Bendy helped too.” Well, there was a first. I agreed with the schmuck.

“Well, of course he did!” Mickey glanced back at the assassin, giving him a placating smile before turning back to the wolf. His eyes whizzed right over the demon.

“So, if you ever need to stay somewhere and earn up to go to school or something, our door is always open Boris!” Mickey said.

“Yeah, it’d be nice to not hear the backyard blow up.” Oswald looked chagrined. “Not that Goofy doesn’t try.”

“He does his best,” Mickey added.

“And what about Bendy?” the cup snapped. The restaurant was only a few feet away now.

“Whadda ya mean?” Oswald looked confused.

The assassin gave him a low look. “You’re makin’ all these ‘swell’ offers ta Boris,” his eyes swiveled as he talked, “which is great. But what about Bendy?”

“Cup.” Bendy's voice had a warning.

“Well, he’s an adult that seems to have things figured out,” Oswald said the an amused smirk.

“Right? Personally, I thought he would see our help as us lookin’ down on him.” Mickey seemed to add in a desperate attempt to finish the conversation.  
  
“Well yeah,” the scarf started, frowning. “But still, uh.”

“Look! We’re here!” Mickey said before he could finish.

The scarf frowned. “But--”

“Let’s get in. The others must have been waiting for a while!” Mickey said quickly and practically pushed everyone else through.

My eyes narrowed at the mouse. This guy needed a lesson.

PJ hurried towards out group and waved us quickly to a long table near the left side where Goofy and a duck were sitting.

“Thanks PJ,” Mickey said with a smile.

“Sure thing, Mickey,” PJ said. “Max will be with you shortly.” He disappeared into the back.

“Hey Mick, Ozzy. I almost ordered without you. You fellas were taken so long,” the duck quacked grumpily, arms folded.

“Oh?” Oswald said with his signature smirk. “What stopped you? Not manners.”

Donald snorted. “The dog wouldn’t let me.”

Goofy frowned at him. “It’s rude to get food before everyone else, Donald.”

“See?” Donald said in annoyance. “And it looks like you brought a party with you.”

“Yeah! You remember--” Suddenly, the duck dived under his table like it was a bomb shelter. Mickey blinked. “Uh? Donald? What are you doing?”

“That guy’s the crazy--Quaaaaaa-quackity-*$#*&*#-Quaaack!” I blinked. Well, that was some of the dirtiest duck I’d ever heard. I glanced at where he’d been looking. The crackhead.

Oh. I didn’t blame him. I narrowed my eyes. What _had_ he done?

“Donald! Slow down! We can’t understand you!” Mickey said. I rolled my eyes and looked around for Pete as the mouse and Goofy ducked a head underneath the table.

CRASH.

I blinked and saw Max standing there, finger pointed at the ceramic dunce. “Y-y-y-y-you!”

The guy sighed. “Look I’m--”

Max didn’t wait to listen. He dove behind Oswald. The rabbit raised an arm as he did, looking back an slight amusement.

“Does someone want to explain?” Oswald asked in a slow tone.

“They’re terrified of you,” Alice explained, looking at the assassin, who frowned.

“He’s the guy that destroyed the restaurant that one time!” Max’s finger shook. My eyes widened, and I turned to the assassin.  

“Him?” Oswald frowned.

“Golly! He’s the fella that burned Donald’s tail feathers?” Goofy’s eyes widened.

Donald continued to hurtle profanities of the most creative nature at the assassin. Who knew having a duck in my hometown would be so useful. He was almost literally glaring daggers. I sort of wanted to applaud him.

The crackhead’s shoulders fell. “Yeah, okay. That was me. Sorry about the business. You fellas did a good job cleanin’ it up.” It was a pathetic apology at most. He turned to the duck, who hadn’t even taken a breath to stop. “And sorry about your...feathers,” he finished, turning away, shoulders hunched.

The duck paused.

“What were you doing attacking the restaurant?” Oswald asked, finally looking serious for a moment.

“It was a problem with us,” Bendy spoke up. “We got it all figured out.”

“He shot at you,” Donald said, going back to regular speech now that he was calmer. “You two ran for your lives!” He pointed at Boris and Bendy.

“What?” Mickey half turned.  

“As I said, we got things figured out,” Bendy repeated, his tone not suggesting that argument was an option. Just like _the last_ time anyone had questioned him about those two Devil dogs.

Oswald and Mickey looked just about as convinced as those at the house had when Bendy had done that the first time.

Boris moved in between the assassins and Mickey’s group. “It really is okay. Things were rough back then. It’s better now.”

“Rough how?” Oswald crossed his arms with an unconvinced frown.

“Revenge.” Out of nowhere, the cupman spoke. But what did that mean?

The room went quiet. I exchanged a look with Alice.

The cup continued. “I thought my brother was dead, and I blamed them.” His body was tensed, his fists were shoved deep in his pockets, and his lips were pressed together hard.

It was an interesting story. The crackhead proceeded to tell the group about how he’d _shot_ his own brother while trying to _murder_ Bendy and Boris. Apparently, the psycho blamed them for it and had gone after them even harder afterwards. Bendy and Boris, being the good hearts they were, had stopped the dunce from killing himself. It was a waste. They were too kind to a schmuck that didn’t deserve it.

“So, you were enemies, but now you’re friends?” Alice clarified at the end.

“Pretty much,” Boris said with a shrug.

“What made you two shoot at a kid?” Mickey asked.

“We were stuck in a rough crowd. We were only doing what we were told,” the scarf said in excuse. I nearly snorted. As it was, I had to turn away and hide a sneer. _We were only doing what we were told_. What a pathetic way to explain your life.

“But why them?” Felix interrupted.

They shrugged, faces guarded. They were protecting their little secret again. The reasoning behind their Devil’s plot.

Alice smiled. “It’s nice to see what friends you’ve all become, despite the difficulties. It’s a wonder that things turned out this way,” she said. I fought a scowl. “You two even helped save me from my situation,” she said to them. “And you Mr. Felix.” She turned to me. “And you.” I looked away. She was already picking up on far too much of my emotions.

Finally, she turned to Boris and Bendy. “And of course you two.”

“What are friends for?” Bendy said, finally looking cheerful.

“Golly, you’ve all been through a lot, huh?” Goofy asked in that half comprehending way he spoke.

“Yep.” Boris smiled. “We’ve made a lot of good friends.”

“What about you fellas?” Bendy asked, looking at Mickey’s group. “You must have some stories from your travels.”

“Boy do we!” Goofy smiled.

“Uh dad, c-can I get your drink orders first?” Max asked, nervous. He was one of the few showing sense, looking at the assassins carefully.

“Well sure son.” Goofy grinned, folding his arms.

We ordered our drinks. Eventually the food came. There was a lot of talking. I was just wondering if anything interesting was actually going to happen or if Pete had just decided to hide in the back from now on when Max came out again.

“The boss wants to see you before you go if you’ll just wait a moment. He said to offer you some desserts,” Max said. I raised a brow at him.

He smiled apologetically and shrugged awkwardly.

I winked at him. “This might get loud,” I whispered behind my hand.

Everyone sat back down, and Max brought back some deserts. The talking had just begun again when suddenly the kitchen door slammed open.

Pete strode forward in all his chubby glory, fuming and shaking a silent finger at Bendy and Boris. He looked furious, but although his mouth opened to yell, no sound came out. I felt a smirk form on my lips.

“Pete! What is it?” Mickey got up, eyes wide.

“Speak up!” Oswald scowled.

Just then, PJ scurried out. “Oh man, oh man, oh man!” He hurried to Pete. His father glared, waving angrily at the table. “S-Sorry dad! I was cleaning a spill!” Pete made the same gesture again, this time more violently. PJ jumped, yanking out a pen and paper. Pete tore it from him. “Right! Um, so dad was cursed earlier this week by a witch, but he’ll be able to talk in a few days.”

Oswald suddenly started laughing. “That’s great!”

A witch? He had called me a witch? It was so funny to me that I couldn’t help bursting out laughing.

He turned, and when he saw me, his eyes bulged. That only made me laugh even harder.

The next moment Pete shoved the notebook back at PJ, something written on it. “Oh c’mon dad! I can’t say that!” he whined. Pete glared at him.

“Don’t worry PJ. We know you’re just helpin’ your father,” Goofy said. Bendy could finally breathe again and stood up.

“I don’t want any trouble! Either give me my voice back or get out of my restaurant. You and your witch! Before you burn this place down too,” PJ mumbled.

“Burn down too! The cussing court agreed it wasn’t us you schmuck! And who the hell are you calling a witch!” Bendy barked. “And what the hell ever happened about that ‘car accident’ you threatened to pin on me, huh? You show that record to the cops? I don’t owe you a cussing thing!” Bendy snarled. Boris had to grab his shoulder. I frowned. Well, this wasn’t nearly as fun as I’d thought it would be. Bendy was upset.

Pete wrote some more. “You should still be locked up. You’re a menace to society.” PJ voice was getting softer. A new flash of anger lit in me. This schmuck hadn’t learned his lesson yet, had he? Apparently a nice soft curse like this wasn’t enough.

“Me!” Bendy jumped, fighting Boris’ hand.

“Woah man.” The cup stood. Donald reclaimed his position underneath the table. “That’s some pretty strong language against my friend there.”

Pete raised his brow, looking haughty. He started to scribble again. He had to shove the notebook back into PJ’s hand to get him to take it. So, what sort of lesson did this mutant need then? PJ grimaced at his father. “Dad, that’s just mean. Mom wouldn’t be happy to hear this.” Pete glared. Loss of sight? PJ hunched over and started to read. “Wow, the demon got himself some thug friends, then? Did he brainwash you like the dog? Just wait for him to nearly get you killed too!” Loss of touch? Loss of hearing? Nightmarish hallucinations?

The assassins looked up angrily, but for once, I didn’t care what they were doing.

“That’s uncalled for.” Felix frowned and stood.

“Pete.” Mickey’s tone sounded worried.

Suddenly, Bendy pulled out from behind the cup and Boris. He had on a wide smile with bright, wide eyes. They were red. It sent a shock wave through me. “Oh, Petey boy.” Oh, Bendy was a demon, alright.

“Bendy! Don’t!” Boris tried to cover him again.

“You have a problem with me?” Bendy barked.

Just then, I managed to catch Pete’s eye. I used a finger to motion to him. Then, I carefully used two fingers to close my own eyes and gave him an evil smile.

Pete paled. Bendy took another step closer to him. He looked back down and shakily wrote something. PJ spoke quickly.

“H-he wants you to leave. He’ll call the cops.” That made me want to roll my eyes. After the trial? After the boy’s personal connections with the detectives? It was an easy bet on who they’d believe. They knew Pete after all. They knew his insurance fraud.

“Call them,” Bendy said in a low, dangerous voice. “I would love to see what you’ll try to sell them.”

Suddenly, Alice interrupted. “Bendy. Please, can we just go?” I frowned, turning and looking. Alice’s eyes were wide and painful. She had stood up.

Bendy blinked. “What?” Boris rested a hand on Bendy’s arm.

“Let’s just go,” Alice repeated, sounding even more strained.

“Yeah, sure. We can go,” Bendy mumbled, looking a little shell shocked.

The group filed out quickly. I lingered at the back until I was the last one out the door. I wiggled my fingers at Pete just before I walked out the door. He jumped back like I had lunged at him.

That was the last bit of humor I got as I walked outside, because the silence that hounded us out the door was like the song of death.

I was starting to wonder if maybe someone should make a stupid joke or something when Mickey’s voice suddenly rang out. “Wait!”

Everyone paused and turned back towards the mouse. He panted, leaning over a moment as he caught up. Oswald and Goofy were behind him. “I’m sorry about Pete.” He shook his head. “He’s full of it and drives me crazy too.”

“Why the hell do you eat there if the owner is such scum?” The assassin’s expression could have blasted a hole in the mouse. Wait, no that was his finger.  

Mickey smiled awkwardly. “I used to work for him too. I know what he’s like. But please, don’t think that’s how we feel.”

“Oh really?” the scarf started.

“Because we’ve been watching all night, and you have been treating Bendy just as crummy as that schmuck!” Cuphead shoved his finger at the mouse, and for half a second, I thought he was going to actually shoot the guy.

But then again, it reminded me that Pete wasn’t the only one who needed a lesson now. “The only difference is that you won’t even admit you’re doing anything wrong,” I added. And not only are you treating him like scum, you seem to be trying to steal his brother.

“I--I!” Mickey absolutely gaped at the two of us. I wanted to smack the expression off of his face.

“Guys.” Bendy sounded strained.

“Mr. Mickey?” Boris looked stricken. At this point, I didn’t care. He needed to see this schmuck for what he was.

“No! Of course!” Mickey shook his head hard. Bendy’s face was dropped into a scowl, unconvinced.

“Oh really? Then, tell me one thing you know about Bendy that doesn’t involve Boris?” the assassin challenged. I nearly laughed. This guy knew exactly how to get to the point!  

Mickey slowly looked around, as if finally realizing he might have done something wrong.

“Mick?” Oswald said with a frown. He put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I don’t know what the deal is here, but I think it’s time we go.”

“Mr. Mickey, you don’t actually think Bendy is…” Boris choked on his words. “You don’t agree with Pete do you?” Boris finally managed to finish.

“No, I don’t,” Mickey said quickly. “That’s not it.”

Bendy looked like he just wanted to be done. “Then why? Is it because I’m a demon?”

“No.” Mickey shifted his head a little as he looked at Bendy and Boris. Something was building inside him.

“Then, what is it?” Bendy pressed angrily. “What makes me something you don’t even want to make eye contact with?” He stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking like he might walk.

Mickey’s hands turned to fists. “It’s because you’re sick!” It came out in an explosion of words.

My mouth dropped.

What?

_What?_

This _cussing schmuck_.

I may have been planning to go back to visit Pete. But suddenly, Mickey moved right up to the top of my list. He’d been treating Bendy like he was invisible because he had _ink illness?_ What sort of twisted, selfish bozo was this guy?

“What does that have to do with anything?” the scarf gaped.

Mickey’s shoulders dropped. He seemed shaky. “Because...because we’ve already lost someone to the illness. And I can’t--I can’t go through that again.” My eyes widened as I stared at him with complete bafflement. Was I hearing this right? _Because_ he had lost someone as well he has treated Bendy like scum? Because he didn’t want to deal with it?

Suddenly, the bunny father took several halting steps back. I turned eyes on Oswald. That’s right, it had been his wife.

“Oswald?” Felix sounded shakey, uncertain.

“Get Ozzy home, Goofy,” Mickey ordered.

Goofy seemed uncertai--Just why am I writing this anyways? That mouse doesn’t deserve the ink. The selfish schmuck made his excuses and left, having the gall to still try and draw Boris back to him while he was at it.

I’d had enough.

Bendy comforted his brother, and finally, Felix convinced him that things would be alright. I could hardly think with how furious I was.

But I knew what to do.

And I didn’t want to wait.

I wanted to do it now.

I lingered at the back as we got to the house. As everyone else walked inside, I touched Alice’s arm. “I’m going to go on a walk. I need some time alone to cool down,” I said in a rough voice.

She gave me a concerned look but nodded. “Should I wait for you here or just head home?”

“I’ll head back to the house when I’m ready,” I replied, turning to walk away. I gave one last glance back at the angel, and she looked at me sadly.

“Okay, if you ever need to talk, you know I have two good ears,” Alice said.

That had a nice sentiment, but I needed to solve _problems_. I turned back around and rounded the corner.

It didn’t take me that long to get back the Fantasia Circus. Just over twenty minutes. It was dark, which was useful, because I didn’t want to be seen. I had upgraded. No longer depending on ‘Fade,’ I was now using ‘Blank’ again, completely invisible.

I made my way past the tent and towards the little buildings at the back. After a moment, I heard voices.   

“Mickey,” Oswald said.

“I’m sorry Ozzy, I-I messed up again.” Mickey’s voice cracked.

I finally came within sight. “Why would you do that?” Oswald asked. Mickey and Oswald were standing on the porch of their house. Mickey’s hands were wrapped around his elbows. Oswald was leaned up against the house, his hands in his pockets.

“Why did you stop talking?” Mickey shot back. “We all have our own way of grieving and trying to protect ourselves.”

My eyes narrowed. I wasn’t here to learn more about this schmuck’s excuses. I shook my head and slid past them, inside the house. I looked around the front room for the bedrooms.

It was a rather simple layout. The furniture was worn, the living room sparse, there was a hall into the back, and a staircase on the other side of living room near the kitchen entrance.

I took the hallway, looking into the rooms there. There was rooms and rooms of bunny kids in all types of sleeping arrangements, beds, hammocks, pillows, and so on. In one of the last two rooms there was a mostly bunny kid free bed. The last was bunny free. I looked around it for signs that it was Mickey’s. There was a box of chocolates on the dresser, a vase of flowers, and cards thanking the mouse. Posters on the wall showed the performers and pictures of groups around the world.

Oh yes. This was the right room.

I closed the door behind me and started drawing on the floorboards with my chalk. When I finished drawing the spell, I dusted off my knees and took a step back. I smirked. Not bad.

My trap set, I sat down on the mouse’s bed to wait for his arrival. It took an annoyingly long time for him to come in. Over an hour, at least. But, it was worth it. Finally, footsteps came down the hall. The door opened, and the mouse stepped inside. I waited until he had closed the door behind him to turn off ‘Blank.’

I smiled. “Hello Mick.”

He had about five seconds to make a noise, “Wha--” before I activated the first half of the spell. The rest of his words were torn away as ‘Silence’ did its work. He stopped trying to talk after only a couple silent words. His hand gingerly went to his mouth.  

“Frustrating, isn’t it?” I smirked.

He looked at me warily, dropping his hand.

I tilted my head. “I’m here because you messed up. Because you hurt a lot of people I care about today.” My brows crumpled as the anger built again. “Because you deserve to understand.” I smiled again. Mickey took a deep breath and lifted his chin.

His lack of reaction was a little annoying, but oh well. It wasn’t going to change what was about to happen. He dove for floor underneath the bed, but the barrier on the spell circle stopped him.

I raised an eyebrow. “That won’t work,” I said in sing-song. The mouse picked himself up and glared at me. Then, he turned to reach the door. The barrier stopped him again. His eyes flashed with worry for half a second. Then they brightened with an idea. He started to jump in place.

My eyes widened. He would wake the others! I jumped forward, scribbling on the floor quickly. A shock of energy jolted up him, causing him to fall to the floor. He wasn’t unconscious yet. I’d been careful of that. His face grimaced in pain.

I glanced at the door warily. “This spell will last as long as I have energy,” I said with one last smirk. “Which at this point will be a very, very long time. Let’s see how you like living as the invisible man.” It was what he deserved for what he'd done to Bendy. With that, I finished what I had started with another bolt of energy. The mouse jerked, and his eyes rolled up. I stood and nudged him carefully to make sure he was completely unconscious. Then, I activated the ‘Blank’ rune in the spell circle. Mickey’s unconscious form faded, and then, disappeared completely.

“Well, that certainly was a lot of work,” I muttered. A very satisfying amount of work. I erased the marks on the floor. Activating ‘Blank’ on myself again, I looked out into the hall, making sure no one was there. Then, I gripped his invisible wrists and dragged him down the hall and out the front door.

This time I knew where to find a wheelbarrow. I dumped him in it and started walking. It was only when I got to the far into the woods outside of town that I dumped him on the ground and made my way back into the city.

Check-mark one. First plan accomplished.

I was practically whistling as I made my way back to the apartment. I had a big smile on when I opened the door and walked in. Alice was reading a book on the couch.

“Hi!” I waved as I closed the door behind me.

“Hello, did you enjoy your walk?” Alice put down her book.

I nodded quickly. “It was a great walk. Just what I needed to raise my spirits again.” I paused, shrugging. I sat down next to her. “How are you doing?”

“I’m...I’m okay,” she said slowly. “I learned a lot today.”

I nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry that all happened at once for you. It must have been really hard.”

“Not nearly as hard as it was on the others,” Alice said. “Boris is still heartbroken.”

Boris would move on. He had Bendy. Still, I continued to smile at her. “You’re so thoughtful towards others, Alice. But be sure to think about yourself as well.”

“I didn’t lose anything today. I don’t have the experiences they had. What right to I have to complain? I just hope they feel better soon,” Alice said with a sigh. “All of them.”

I nodded. “I hope so too. At least he’s done with that two-faced mouse.” Oh-so-permanently.

Alice frowned. “Two-faced?” She shifted so she was facing me completely. The halo bobbed above her.

Oops. Slip up. “Just acting one way outside while he was thinking different things on the inside.” I stood up. “Anyways, I’m tired. So, I should probably get to bed now.”

“Okay, good night Holly,” she said, still not looking very happy. She stood up and wrapped me in a hug.

And with that, I went to my room.

The sound of the other bedroom door shutting quietly barely reached me through my door.

The only problem is this.

I’m not sleeping at all anymore.

But then again, with so much to do, it’s a gift.


	73. November 3, Thursday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Advance Happy New Years everyone! Wow, I feel like 2018 went by in a flash of light. It's left me blinking. :D I'm applying for graduate schools right now, so it's made me pretty excited for what 2019 could potentially hold for me. I hope that your New Years celebrations are fun!

I waited an hour--until I knew Alice was sleeping deeply--before I slipped out of my room and the apartment.

It had occurred to me in that hour, writing away, that I had been reckless again. I hadn’t thought my plan all the way through. Mickey, like the boorish Pete, could still write. So I had to take care of that one last detail.

It was just the right type of cold outside, so I didn’t mind hiking back to where I’d dumped him. It might have been hard to find him, but all I had to do was follow my trail of power. He was right where I’d left him.

I stood there for a moment, considering how to handle the problem.

I could make his hands so shaky that he couldn’t write. I could add a mimicking rune like I had done with that cute bunny girl so that anything he touched turned invisible as well.

Those were all logical, easy solutions. But for some reason the more I thought about it, the more boring they seemed.

This had been a challenge. I could make it even more of a game.

So instead of adding a rune to the curse on the mouse, I pulled out a piece of paper and started to write on it.

_Silly Mickey,_

_I’ll bet you feel so clever, thinking “I can write a note!” just like meatheaded little Pete. Well, think about this. I’ve set a trap somewhere near a person you care about. You can’t see it, don’t even try looking, silly mouse. But if you tell anyone I’m the one that did this to you, I’ll activate that trap, and that person will disappear from your life permanently. After all, if people think a dangerous witch is about I’ve got nothing to lose, right? Think about it. Because taking that person is only where I’ll start._

_Have fun!_

_-You know who_

And what if he still told? What if the others turned on me because of what I’d done for them? It was strange, because at some point in the last couple hours, I’d started to forget why I cared. I stood there for a moment, thinking hard. 

Oh...I finally mumbled to myself. It was because they were my way to learn more about the cog, about _everything_ concerning the machine. I waved a hand. So funny. I just needed the cog itself.  With the right knowledge and the instant power it gave, the potentials were endless. After that if they stopped trusting me, I’d just force the information from the right person. Just like what I was going to do with Cala once my preparations were done.

I wiped imaginary sweat from my forehead. Whew! One less thing to think about. Now! Just onwards and forwards. So many things to do. So many things to do. Haha!

I fingered the note in my hands after I finished. Where should I put it? Stick it in his pocket? Glue it to his forehead? No. That would be too easy.

So instead, I turned away and walked back into the city, back towards the circus, back to Mickey’s house. The house was locked, just like I'd left it. It was easy to reopen. I left the note just underneath one end of his pillow.

Leaning back, I stretched. Well, still more things to do. Traps to set, people to curse, problems to solve. It was going to be a beautiful night.

The flowers and chocolates caught my eye again. On impulse, I plucked the note from the flowers. It wasn’t anything long. Just, “To Minnie.”

A slow smile spread across my face. Oh. How sweet. He liked the flower shop girl.

I snorted. Although from the looks of it, he hadn’t had the guts to give the thing to her yet. I slid the note back into the flowers and turned away.

Silencing my own footsteps, I crept into the rabbit’s room. The rabbit was asleep in a simple twin bed in a corner of the room. There were several shelves of books lining the walls. I withheld the impulse to look at them. Now really wouldn't be the best time to get caught.

There were two displays of pictures on one of the shelves. In one photo, the rabbit was with his parents, holding a diploma. My eyes drifted to the next. I stopped suddenly, staring at the last picture on display. It was of the rabbit with a professor called Ludwig Von Drake and Wilson Wiseton! He knew Wilson?

My head suddenly felt heavier, and I turned away. I took a breath and forced myself to look around for what I was truly searching for. I saw a desk covered in papers, a notebook, a photo album, and a journal. In a wastebasket next to the desk were more papers and...a lizard skin? Interesting. But that wasn't what I was looking for either. A moment later I found his closet. It was open and surprisingly organized for a rabbit with over four hundred children. Marking it for future reference I turned back to the bunny.

Careful of each step, I stood over the rabbit and drew a 'Sleep' above his headboard. The bunny let out a sigh before his head lolled limply to the side, eyes still closed. That precaution taken care of, I slid myself under the sleeping rabbit's bed and wrote a 'Switch' rune underneath his bed, adding 'Blank' to turn the marks invisible.

Then I rummaged through his closet, careful not to disturb any of the other sleeping bunny children. I found the older bunny's coat and wrote the same mark on the tag of his jacket, turning that mark invisible as well. I repeated this several times on every shirt I could find. Barely breathing, I crept out the door and shut it behind me. I didn't stop there either. I wanted to be sure I could keep my threat in any circumstance. One I placed just inside the room with the bunny children, one inside the bathroom, and more in several other places around the house. But I can't tell you every single one of them, can I? That would be stupid.

Finished with that, I locked the door behind me and let go of the sleep spell, walking slowly away from the circus.

'Switch' was easily usable and connected to every other 'Switch' run I created. You see, what the rune does is it pulls the closest thing from one end of the rune to the other side of whatever other 'Switch' symbol the user designates. Interestingly, in a pinch, this rune can also be used to summon things. But I haven't quite explored that area of its use yet. Too busy with other things. However, with 'Switch' I could fell two birds with a single stone. It made it possible to quite literally pluck a person away, but that's not all I intended to do with it. If Mickey decided to act out--And at this point, I was actually hoping he did--then I would use 'Switch' to see if I could truly summon a monster while sending the person it sucked in to whatever starfallen spot the creature had come from. I had a few places in mind. The secluded, lost jungles of the legendary giant Rock Python, Hista. That would be interesting. Or the deep, lifeless caverns of the Unkbuut Spiders? Or maybe I could just summon that giant Roc's nest again. It was a nice solution to a problem and would answer a bit of curiosity no matter what I chose. 

Well, what was next then? Hmmm. I thought of that flower girl again. You know, having a little extra something planned wouldn’t hurt, now would it? I made my way to the flower shop and unlocked the door. Inside, I set three more traps in the building before looking for any live-in rooms in case the mouse girl had an apartment in the shop.

She didn't, which was a bit of disappointment, but it would be just as easy to get her while she was in the shop as she was there most of the time, so I settled for that.  
  
Now that all of those preparations were done, I skipped down the sidewalk in the dark until I reached Pete’s Diner. I looked up. Wow! The moon was so big tonight! It was bright and round and...It reminded me of the cog. My poor isolated, beautiful cog. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could bare to leave it stuck in that dusty old room. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could bare to leave it at all.

I wanted to feel the cold touch of its metal.

I stopped and stared at the moon for a long moment. The cog. Why couldn't I just take it now? Why did I have to wait longer? The impatience in me grew. 

I took a deep breath and shook my head slowly. I needed to calm down. Hadn't I gone back to Mickey just now  _because_ I had been too impatient? I needed to be careful. All the plans in the world would fall apart if only one person found out about what I'd done...or what I wanted from the cog. 

Especially that angel. 

Luckily the demon and the others were far too distracted to notice anything odd happening. But that angel's power to sense my emotions was becoming a bigger and bigger problem for me. 

If I could just give her something else to focus on, it would make my life a bit easier until the time was right for me to take the cog. The idea I'd had for handling the two cup nuisances came to mind. It would be a big distraction. People would probably look for them if they just suddenly disappeared. I smiled. I liked the idea. It was simple. Easy. But I had to confirm for myself that they indeed were liars before I would be one-hundred percent satisfied. So, tonight I would find a mirror some place away from the angel and use it to find out the truth about  _them_. It would be undeniable knowledge. A mirror spirit was incapable of lying--as the old queen had known quite well. 

I went around to the back of the cafe and opened the door. Entering the kitchen, I saw that the counters had been cleaned to perfection. Every dish, pot, and pan had been hung or stacked to perfection. If I didn’t hate the toon, I might have been impressed with the organization. Impatiently, I searched through the diner for a sign of the bear man or an address to where he lived.

I searched the cupboards, the break room, and the little board with advertisement and flyers on it. Nothing. Nothing on the tables. Nothing in any of the inner rooms.

Well, this certainly caused a problem.

Without an address, how could I find him? I clicked my tongue, sitting in a chair in the break room. I pondered what I could do. It’s not like I could go back to the circus, wake Goofy, and ask him where Pete’s house was.

Then, I got an idea.

It made me smile slowly. What a wonderful opportunity to practice my skills. I had failed when I'd tried this spell before, but I had a feeling that wouldn’t be the case this time.

I looked around some more and finally found what I needed. A chef’s cap. I slid my fingers gently inside, feeling around. A moment later, I plucked out what I needed.

A hair.

Grabbing a random piece of paper, I formed the tracking spell and set the hair at the center. Then, I lit the hair on fire.

Whoosh!

The paper crumpled in on itself, forming a shimmering auburn-colored dot of light that hovered in the air.

I grinned as it flew towards the door. It had worked.

I grabbed a cup and chased after it.

The speck went out the door and was halfway down the block before I managed to trap it in the cup. It beat itself senseless against one side, so I went in that direction.

The walk wasn’t very long after that. I found myself in a richer part of town filled with new-age, suburban houses. All the lawns were mowed. All the houses had gardens. All of the houses had white, picket fences. It actually seemed slightly cliche, honestly.  

Pete’s house had two stories, a balcony on the front, a slanted roof, and railing around the open space. There were stairs leading up to an open patio, a swinging chair on one side, and a couple of plants and a table on the other. The windows were large and covered. There was a doll in one of the windowsills.

I climbed the stairs up to the front door. Then thinking better of it, I went around to the back and spelled the door open there. Once inside, I carefully padded my way up to the second floor, where all the bedrooms were. I peeked quietly into each room. The first door had a name, “Pistol,” on it and held a young, teenage, girl.

Not what I was looking for. Although, I was not one to sneeze at a potential opportunity. I leaned into the room and wrote the same rune I’d left with the rabbits. I shut the door and moved to the next. This room was empty, but it looked like it used to belong to PJ. An old can of spray cheese sat on a nightstand, and there was a boy’s bedspread on the mattress.  

Finally, I found the master bedroom. There was a frankly enormous bed in the middle of the room. Pete’s snoring form lay turned in the opposite direction. Pointed towards me was a woman. She was a thin, delicate-looking woman with hair that jutted out on two sides like her hair was a giant bow. She huffed a little in her sleep.

I raised my brow.

Oh, so he still had a wife. Being a brute like he was, I’d have thought any woman would have left him a long time ago.

The room had a vanity on the woman’s side, and there was a large potted plant on the opposite night stand. I tip-toed into the room and carefully wrote a sleep rune above her head. I breathed out and activated it.

Instantly, the woman’s body relaxed. Her breathing deepened. I smiled. I really liked this rune. It solved a lot of problems. I made my way around the bed to Pete’s end. He was curled over on his side, one hand tucked under the pillow and the other resting on his side. I peered at the free hand.

Yup. It was the one I hadn’t written on.

Licking my lips, I pulled out my inkwell and gently took his hand. I wrote out the symbol and activated it.

Taking a deep breath, I grinned. Part one finished.

He needed to be awake for this next part. I grabbed his shoulder and started to shake him.

“Petey,” I whispered. “Petey, wake up.”

Pete jerked wake and sat up.

I took a few steps back and let out a breath. “Can you see me, Pete?” I said, not trying to hide the mocking tone in my voice.

He whipped his head around, an angry and confused glare aimed at nothing. He reached up and touched his eyes.

“Now, no need to get so upset. I’m just here to keep my promise from earlier tonight after all. Remember?” I snickered.

His eyes widened, and he started trying to say something, gesturing angrily in the general direction of my voice.

“Aw, having a hard time, are we? Here, let me help you.” I snapped my fingers and pulled the magic from the 'Silence' rune on him.

“--and if you tink for a second I’m gonna--Hey! I can talk again!” He cut himself short with a gasp.

I folded my arms. “Yes, and if you don’t lower your voice, I’m going to shut you up again.”

Pete scowled. “Oh yeah? I don’t tink so, little missy! See with tis here breakin’-n-enterin’ I can finally have tose cops do their job! And if you tink cursing me again will stop me, you got another t’ing coming.”

This guy...thought I was going to sit around and let him call the cops? What was he, thick in the head as well as in the stomach? It was suddenly all so funny that I started to laugh, slapping my knee and hunching over until I had tears in my eyes. Pete sat stunned in his bed.

Finally, I straightened up and tilted my head. “And what about your wife, Petey? What about that pretty little girl next door and the nice little trap I’ve set up next to her? If you don’t start listening like a good little brute, I’ll start with you, but I won’t stop with your voice or your eyes or even you. I’ll destroy everyone here. I’ll even go find PJ if you make me mad enough.”

Pete froze. The shock turned to horror and then rage. He grit his teeth, clenched his fists, but he held his tongue.

I nodded. “Good.” I wandered over to the window, still faced towards him.

“Whadda ya want?” Pete hissed.

“Tomorrow, you’re going to go to the police and admit to them that you burned down the mechanic shop. And you're going to admit to all the rest of the insurance fraud you’ve committed. Okay?” I leaned back on the window sill, watching him.

“But I didn’t burn it down! It wasn’t me. It was that little--” He bit his tongue, then his lip.

My smile dropped, and I stared at him. “That little what?” I said in a low voice.

He covered his mouth with his fist before taking a deep breath. “Fine.” His eyes sparked with anger, but his shoulders dropped in defeat. “I’ll do it. And you’ll leave my family alone?”

I nodded. “Sure.” I wandered over to the door. “But if a word of this ever comes out, Pete, you know what will happen.”

Pete pursed his lips and nodded.

I shut the bedroom door and skipped down the steps. Going out the back, I ran into the little wood at the back. Well, that solved that problem. What was next?

I pondered. I needed to find a mirror to use. Also, even when I confirmed the truth, it wouldn't be safe to make a move on the cupperware until I was also ready to summon Cala. And some of that preparation had to be done in daylight hours.

I was walking down the street, thinking of where I could get a mirror in the middle of the night, when it hit me. Another stupid problem we had was that demon outside of town. Black Hat.

And what had I just learned about harming demons?

I grinned as I made my way back to Oddswells house. Opening the door, I made my way into his lab where I found a tray of vials.

The angel potion.

The one that was poisonous to demons.

I removed the entire case and poured the liquid into one bottle. At this point, I hesitated. There was still one more thing I needed here. I felt into my bag. Yes. I still had the vials of blood and hair with me. 

I grinned. That was so exciting! I'd be able to do tests on them soon then. With that thought spurring me on, I raced back to Oddswells cabinet and considered what I would need. Microscope. Necessary and difficult to acquire in other circumstances. I grabbed a couple more syringes and took a bit of angel potion, curious to see what it did to Demon blood exactly. I took a few other things from Oddswell's cabinet before closing the doors again, pausing then. Wouldn't it be convenient to have a quick way to get here as well? I went into the empty study room beyond Oddswell's office and wrote a 'Switch' rune behind the couch. There. Easy. 

Then, picking my way carefully through the sleeping house, I left through the back door and walked all the way to the casino.

The place was still open. Somehow, that didn’t surprise me. It wasn’t as busy as before, but that wasn’t really a surprise. It was obvious that the Warners had been there. The great chandelier was still gone, a hanging chain the only hint of its previous existence. There were burn marks on the stairs and a couple of holes in the walls too.

I could practically see a trail of what had happened. Here was where they’d lit a curtain on fire. There was where Dot had used her enormous hammer to smash an entire table. That was where the topiaries used to be in the gardens. Nothing was left of the bush art. Eventually, I made my way through the destruction and down to the mysterious basement. I pressed the switch and made my way down the hall of pictures, my hand lightly trailing the papers as I walked by.

I planted a rune in the surveillance room, withholding the urge to laugh as the lizard girl there made faces at the tv screen. Finally, I made my way down to the ominous hallway that both Alice and I had avoided before.

I considered the door at the end of the hall for a moment. For some reason, it still made me shiver. Then, I quietly slipped inside. It was dark room with a tall ceiling. There were items on pedestals and pictures of Black Hat on the wall. Some were news clippings on disasters and the opening of the casino. There was a cabinet against one side, away from the artifacts. There he was in another picture, shaking hands with Count Dracula. Another had him in a suspicious looking lab, standing next to a 'Dr. Frankenstein.' And in another he was standing next to...Was that Al Capone?!

Well, wasn’t he popular with the famous and evil? I studied more of the photos, more of the articles, but you don’t really need to know what I saw, so what point is there in me dredging it out? If you’re curious, you go risk your life and sneak into his room yourself. Ha!

There even was a Kraken eye.

I’ll admit, I wanted to take it. And a couple of the other items. But something stopped me. I could feel something ominous in the air to it all. And I didn’t know enough about demons to take the right precautions.  

However, the Kraken eye did end up being useful.

It showed me Cala.

When I looked in the eye I saw her instantly, talking to a woman who was rather round and had the lower half of an octopus. The woman laughed at her words and pointed at her and the boiling cauldron between them. The liquid in it was glowing blue, green, and purple. Magic. The octopus woman said something with a huge smile and gestured toward her. Cala frowned and lifted her chin with determination. She took a couple of breaths before nodding.

The octopus woman seemed to cheer. She did a shimmy, her tentacles waving around excitedly. She snapped her fingers, and two eels darted out of the shadows, wrapping around the Cala’s arms. The girl looked between them, alarmed. I tilted my head. What was the sea witch going to do to her? She struggled and grimaced when the woman turned back around. The witch had some kinda worm thing in one hand and a bottle in the other. Cala shook her head. The woman nodded excitedly and said something. ‘Hold still’ perhaps? Maybe I didn't need to worry about Cala coming back anyways. But then I'd never have my answers from her. I peered closer, shoulders tense. Cala squeezed her eyes shut as the octopus woman stretched one end of the worm over the lip of the bottle and held the other side out toward Cala.

The worm poked around one of her confined arms before it seemed to bite Cala. She screamed and withered. Her pretty face transformed into the scaly form of the gorgon she really was. The octopus woman was careful to not look at her directly. The worm darkened, and the bottle quickly filled. When it was full, the octopus woman pulled it back. Cala seemed to hiss and struggle. The eels didn’t let her go yet. The woman returned with another bottle. It was attached to a pole. She extended it closer and closer to the gorgon until one of Cala's hissing snakes snapped at it and sank her fangs into the top. Venom rushed into it. That done, the eels released her. The octopus woman laughed and shook the jar. Cala ducked her head and hid behind her snake hair. The Kraken eye dulled until the image was gone.

That had been an odd exchange. Was Cala selling things to the sea woman? I took in a long breath, thinking. And just what could you do with Gorgon blood and venom?

Oh, this was going to be _so_ interesting.

Just then, my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a door opening.

Black Hat walked in with an annoyed huff.

I froze near the wall, watching him carefully.

He went to his large desk and tossed a folder on top of it. “Foolish low lives,” he muttered. He walked to the cabinet and opened it. He pulled out an ice chest and two containers. Getting ice, he poured a glass of one bottle and added just a little of the other. He swirled the mixture before taking a drink. I instantly regretted not looking for an alcohol stash earlier and poisoning it. But at least I knew where it was now. He licked his lips and walked back to the desk. “He actually dares to charge me a fee for that damn chandelier! Me! It really adds some class to his dump. And instead he’s angry! Fine!”

Was he talking about when the Warners stuck his chandelier in hell? So, he was getting fined for it? I choked back a snicker.

Black Hat grabbed the file, claws punching holes into it. “He’s lucky I didn’t rip those sniveling excuses for imps to pieces!” He tossed it back down. The paper smacked against the polished wood. “Fine! He doesn’t want to talk to me directly? He’s too busy to ‘deal with the problem’? Then see if I say anything about that rebellious fledging! See how he likes it when the angels come knocking on _his_ door for the destruction of a city!” He laughed, showing jagged teeth.

He continued to write at his desk, but now I was eyeing his bottle. It was still on the chest. I inched my way forward until I was right next to the bottles. Carefully, I slid the stopper from both bottles.

I waited until he started to mutter again before I started pouring. Half of the serum in one bottle, half in the other. Then, I inched my way back until I was next to the door again. I shifted the door open slowly, watching him for any sign of noticing.

He continued to write. I mentally wished him farewell and slipped back through the door and down the hall quickly.

When I got out of the casino, the sun had risen.

I stood in front of the building, frowning. Alice would already be up. I still hadn't found a mirror, and I still had other things to do now that the sun was up. I clicked my tongue. If I went back to the apartment I would have to explain myself. I didn’t have time to deal with making up excuses. I was going to move to the next step.

Making my way into the city again, I looked up a realtor in the phone book. That done, I went to the address.

The man at the realtor was short, mostly balding, and had glasses on. He was reading paper when I came in. And because I was careful, I got right up next to him  and touched his hand before he noticed I was there.

He jumped.

“M-miss?” He blinked at me several times.

“I’m sorry. I said hello several times, but you just didn’t seem to notice.” I smirked at him. He gave me a strange look.

“H-how can I help you?” he said, shaking off the look and tightening his neck-tie as he tried to give me a charming smile. 

I tilted my head at him. “I’m looking to purchase a small home out in the woods.” I motioned to the map he had spread on the desk. There were little pins in it everywhere, indicating properties. I quirked my lips. "Somewhere around here." I poked an area just outside of town, on the opposite end from where I'd taken Mickey.

He blinked at me again. Adjusting his glasses, he spoke. “Are you sure about buying a home somewhere so outside out town, miss? There are some shady characters who meet out there.” 

I gave him a glare. “Yes. Outside of town. That’s the point, isn’t it? I _just_ said that.”

He hunched back. “Okay?” He cleared his throat, looking sideways at me. "Well, when would you like to set up an appointment to go look at--"

"Now would be the best time," I said, tapping a finger on the map impatiently.

The man blinked at me a couple times. "You don't plan on bringing anyone with you? A husband? Sibling? Aunt?"

I let out a slightly exasperated sigh. What did one need to do to get a realtor to show her potential hidey-hole houses here?  "No. And I don't think the way you're questioning me is very proper. It's inappropriate." I gave him a long look that caused him to gulp and remove his hat. 

I spent most of the morning with him looking over the properties. None of them were exactly what I wanted. One was too big. Another looked so old that it was about to fall apart. The third had no basement. The fourth was on a hill where it could be easily seen. 

In the end, I settled for the old one. I chose it mainly because it was cozied up against a cliff, making it impossible for anyone to come at it without me seeing. Also, it had a tiny little cement basement. It wasn't entirely what I was looking for, but I could work with it.

The realtor sat down to look over the house papers and set up a payment plan, but I cut him off quickly. If my wanderings were useful for one thing, they would be useful here. I pulled out a wad of cash, nearly three fourths of what I'd taken from the Sykes' safe.

Payment in full.

The flabbergasted look on the man's face was worth all the hassle that I had gone through during the day. He stared at the money. On impulse, and just a little bit because he was distracted, I wrote the switch sign underneath his desk as he stared. I didn't know when it would be useful to have certain records disappear. Or even have a convenient spot to pull myself through to. So far, I had 'Switch' runes set up in the Circus, Pete’s house, Daisey’s shop, Oddswell’s house, Black Hat’s Casino, and here at the realtors. I signed the deed and walked out the door before he could protest further.

As walking had really become a habit, I walked back to my new, dilapidated house. It was a cold afternoon, turning quickly into evening. Walking down the leaf-strewn dirt path, I could imagine werewolves and witches creeping out from among the leafless, deadened trees around me. That reminded me. I still hadn’t been able to take a moment to enjoy my own small halloween. But wouldn’t it be interesting if I could see real werewolves and zombies and mummies for halloween? I filed the thought away. Too much to do right now, but I liked the idea.

When I reached the old house, the sun had nearly set. I pulled out my keys and unlocked the front door, entering it and locking the door behind me. The inside of the house was dusty. An old, faded couch with a floral pattern sat at the back of the front room, left over from when the last toon who had lived here had abandoned it. It was saggy. I dismissed it and moved into the little hallway to the left, opening the door last door on the left. The only bedroom.

I didn’t really care that it had a bed. I didn’t need to sleep anymore. What I was interested in was the old, cracked desk beside it. Space to do what I needed.

The tests.

I pulled everything I had taken out of my bag, first the _heavy_ microscope, then the vials of blood and bits of hair, then the syringe of angel potion.

Setting the clear liquid aside, I grabbed a clear slide and allowed a single drop of Bendy’s blood to fall on it. Enclosing it with the other side of the case, I set it underneath the small microscope. Leaning down, I looked at the blood.

I could see the regular red and white blood cells I would expect from anyone’s blood. There did seem to be another cell I couldn’t quite identify. Its count was a lot less than either of the others. It was a funny shape. It was black, there was a white spot in its center, similar to a nucleus. It was the size of a red blood cell but perfectly round. I frowned, leaning in as I studied the cell. On impulse, I pulled out a piece of paper and started to sketch it, peering back into the microscope to look at each cell and see if there were any other differences. When I was satisfied that the sketch was accurate, I slid it into my journal and took the syringe of angel potion. I slid the blood sample out slightly and let a single drop fall on it before sliding it quickly back underneath the microscope.

The liquid spread quickly. The black cells burst, black liquid spread and seemed to either disperse or dissolve. The red blood cells all shriveled. I blinked. Just what was that? It was like it infected and destroyed those third cells. Humming with excitement, I placed the slide aside and made a new one with crack-head’s blood this time.

His blood was weird. There were the usual cells, of course, and _three_ unidentifiable cells. The black one Bendy had and two other types. One group was cylinder shaped with two thin lines running down the length of it. There were two pairs of circles attached to either end. They darted around the other cells with purpose, though it was too small to see what they were doing. The other was crescent moon shaped in groups of as few as four to as many as twelve.

On a strange impulse, I took the angel potion and added a single drop as well. I thought the potion was only supposed to be fatal to demons. But it had exploded the black cells in Bendy’s blood. If Cup had it too, did it mean the races had something in common? What would it do to a non-demon?

The black cells acted the same, growing large and finally bursting. The regular blood cells though, unlike the ones in Bendy’s blood, remained the same. Not shriveling. The crescent moon cells seemed to encircle portions of the potion and absorb it. That was...interesting. Almost like protection of a white blood cell, but to another level. The cylinder cells seemed to also react, taking the crescent cell groups _to_ the liquid and the black cells _away_ from it. It was like the crescent cells were the offense, fighting the poison, and the cylinder cells were the defense, adding protection by making sure the potion didn’t interact with the cells it could harm. I was baffled. Did all toons do this? I remember taking science classes and hearing about how different races physiology could be different, but I didn’t remember anyone mentioning these types of cells. I took a moment to sort through a few different memories in my head to be sure.

Humming again, I reached into my bag and pulled out a spare syringe I had taken from Oddswell. I had a few. Carefully, I found a vein in my own leg and drew a vial of blood. Quickly, I wrapped a bandage around the spot and moved it gently to make sure it was alright. It itched a bit, but was fine.

Crack-head and Bendy were unique. But I knew for a fact that I was a pretty normal toon. So, I had to see what differences there were. I added a drop of my own blood to the slide and peered into the microscope again.

No surprise there. Red blood cells and white blood cells. No black blood cells. No crescents or cylinders. Almost just for the kick of it, I dropped a bit of angel potion into my sample as well and took a look at it with the microscope.

The potion seemed to get absorbed by the cells. They seemed to become fuller, more health, and any damaged cells fused and fixed.

So that confirmed it. There was something special about the crack-head’s blood. I wasn’t sure whether it was a race thing that demons and the dish race shared or if it was a crack-head thing. To find an answer to that question, I would need more of a comparison. I needed a sample of the scarf’s blood as well.

It almost made me annoyed that I intended to kill them.

There was so much I could learn from the biology of these two. Bendy was capable of great things. And the crack-head’s blood had even more unique blood cells than him. But for that very reason, I knew it would be too dangerous to leave them alive.

Outside, night had fallen again. I groaned and sat up, the dull light of the overhead light hurting my eyes a bit. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to give Betty an excuse for my absence. And Alice would be even more suspicious because of my disappearance.

I sighed. Well then, I might as well continue my work then. No point going back to the apartment and wasting time on meaningless questions. They’d wait for tomorrow. I set my sample aside and took another look at Bendy’s to see if anything had changed. To my surprise, the demon blood had clotted. The red blood cells had all turned grey thanks to the burst black cells and the remaining red blood cells had clumped together in one large mass. So, essentially this potion turned a demon’s blood entirely into blood clot and whatever the black cells had been? That sounded like a painful death.

I shrugged and set the slide aside, a little excited to see if there had been more changes with the dish blood. As I peered down, I saw that the crescent cells that had absorbed the angel potion had started to secrete a new substance. This substance then went around the the other cells, black or red or white, and repaired them. In addition to this, the cylinder cells were moving any of the damaged cells towards the crescent ones. This was a absolutely _fascinating_ immune system. Unlike anything I’d ever heard about before. I wondered what those two were truly capable of, how much they could endure. Would dropping them in the bay after I stole the scarf’s pearl and retook Snowball be enough? 

I clicked my tongue and sat back. Even if their immune system was capable of filtering out poison from them, it didn’t mean that they suddenly could grow gills. I'd chosen it because it was a simple plan with everyone asleep and it would look like the two of them had just left, disappeared, which wouldn't be unusual for people in their line of work. But...once again I felt a pang of disappointment that I couldn’t test farther into what it was they were capable of doing, what it was they were made of.

I wish I had been able to get a sample of the liquid in their heads. But when I’d touched the crack-head’s hair it had stopped me from going anywhere near into his head. It was as if there was some sort of barrier there. Which was why I’d had to settle with the hair.

Oh. The hair.

I pushed the rest of the samples aside and unscrewed the little jar I’d put the crack-head’s hair in. I cut off an even smaller portion and put it under a slide, peering at it from the microscope.

The fibers seemed to have the scaly pattern most hair follicles had, but on closer observation, I realized they were made of interlocked crescent cells.

Molting winged horses.

These cells made up his immune system and his hair? Was that how he managed to style it? And if it could form hair, could he made it into something else?

And what was the black cell? Was it ink illness? Did the crack-head have ink illness too? I leaned over rummaging through my bag as I vainly looked to see if I still had any tiny bit of that vial of ink from before. Too bad I hadn’t thought to steal some.

My search came up in vain, and I clenched a fist, sighing. Just as I was removing my hand, something brushed it.

A stone.

I blinked and pulled out the ink stone I’d made. I’d entirely forgotten about it. Forgotten to give it to Oddswell multiple times. A small smile formed. Maybe it would be useful now.

Carefully, I broke off a tiny section of the stone and crushed it, mixing it with another slide of the crack-head's blood. I pushed it under the microscope and looked.

The same process started. The crushed ink showed up as tiny black particles along side the other cells. The cylinder cells pushed the crescent cell groups toward the foreign substance. The black particles quickly liquified, circling around cells before it seemed to be absorbed, by all cells. The cylinders were flying about trying to move everything away except the crescent cells. The crescent cell groups absorbed the ink...and liquified. All the cells seemed to liquify.

Except the black cells. They swelled and then did nothing.

I blinked, staring at the microscope as I leaned back. The ink had _obliterated_ all the other cells. Even the super immune cells. Just _what_ were those cells? Were they related to ink illness because they’d absorbed the ink and become strong?

I quickly repeated the test first with more of my own blood, getting the same results. My blood was obliterated even faster than crack-head’s had been. Then I tried the same thing on Bendy’s demon blood.

The black cells absorbed the ink, slowing the process, though the other cells were destroyed in time. I drew in a fast breath. It hadn’t stopped the process completely, but somehow the black cells had slowed it. Could they be another key to helping those with ink illness! This was great! I should go and tell Oddswell, and we could look into it more...

I frowned and blinked. What had I just said? My head suddenly went so light that I swayed and fell to the side, barely catching myself on the nearby bed.

Ink illness? Oddswell? Slowing? Why had I thought that? It would be foolish to bring this to Oddswell for multiple reasons, starting with the fact that I’d stolen the blood without anyone’s permission, continuing with the fact that it would make people suspicious, and ending with the fact that if the mirror gave me the answer I expected tonight about their loyalties, I had plans to drop them in the bay in their sleep. I had been excited about finding a way to help slow the process. But why?   

I knelt there on the ground for another long moment, frowning at the bare mattress. I couldn’t come up with an answer. It truly baffled me. Although the things I had discovered from my tests _had_ been fascinating. I needed to find more ways to test the blood if it was my only way to learn more from these two for the time being. I added taking a sample of the scarf’s blood before I dumped them to my list.

I stood up. I couldn’t think of anything else to test. Then I glanced down at the assorted items on the desk. If the angel continued the way she was, eventually people would find out the truth. There was even a chance that I’d lose the cog.

The idea immediately made me furious, but I forced the anger back down. What I wanted wasn’t what reality might become eventually. I needed to make a plan in case that happened. A back-up in case they took the cog from me, in case my mind changed back to the approval dependant form it had been in before.

I nearly laughed. Two weeks ago, I would have been mortified about half the things I’d done so far. But I’d made so much _progress_. The sort of progress that would have taken me so long to achieve two weeks ago.

So. I needed a plan. And it would start with finding a nice hiding place for these samples.

The night moved on. I went to work. I did find a hiding spot for the samples and even came up with a clever ruse to satisfy anyone if they ever came by to look around for anything.

That finished, I went to the full length mirror I’d bought on my way to the house. I’d placed it in the basement. Pulling out the old queen’s tome, I flipped to the page with the mirror spell. Writing out the rune characters of the spell around my own shimmering reflection, I stared at myself.

And gasped, falling back.

Two entirely black, deadened eyes stared back at me. As the panic ran through me, my eyes suddenly cleared, going back to the normal white with a black center. I breathed hard, staring at my reflection again.

Was this another side effect of the cog? It would be bad if anyone noticed. But no one had mentioned me having black eyes...So was this the first time? I stared at my eyes in the mirror again.

It had gone away when I’d been surprised. Maybe it was affected by my emotions?

I shook off the emotion and finished up the rune spell. Breathing out, I took a step back, enacting the spell and giving the chant. The inside of the mirror burst into flames again, but this time I wasn’t afraid, and I didn’t have a little fuzz ball to distract me. I stared down the slick, white, bodiless face that appeared from the fire.     

“What wouldst thou know, my queen?” his sullen lips spoke.

I smirked. I prized this knowledge. His price would probably be high. But I didn’t care. It would be worth it. But how to word this? I wanted to ask if they planned to betray us. I thought up a simple rhyme. “Mirror, mirror so far away. Do Cuphead and Mugman plan to us betray?”

The pale-faced spirit ducked his head down, vanishing into black as he prepared to show me what my price would be. However, instead of showing me a vision of a memory the pale faced spirit’s voice sounded again in the blackness. “A price you must pay, to learn if they leave or stay. A treasure from your father, to find out if they deserve the water.”

The mirror shimmered and burst into light again. Image after image flashed before my eyes. My father in bed. My father coughing, hunched over, his balding head heavy with sweat. The last talk we had together when I took him to the beach in a wheelchair, and we wandered around the place for an hour. The funeral that happened afterwards.

I stumbled back, tripping over my feet and causing my back to slam into the concrete wall on the other side of the room.

“That’s more than one memory!” I shouted, my voice hoarse. “That’s way more than one memory. It’s everything from after he got sick! I won’t even remember that he _got_ sick!”   

The pale face reappeared, eyes as dead and solemn as always. Looking as if he hadn’t just asked for the remains of what I had left of my father. “I said treasure, not leisure. The number does not matter, the price is equal of the latter.”

I growled, standing up. But this...this...I started to pace the room. The mirror spirit’s empty eyes followed me. Was it worth the price? It’s not like my memories of the man would ever bring him back. He was gone, and I had no intention of ever going back to Aesop’s Falls. I turned, heart beating hard as I returned to the mirror. The answer was on the barest tip of my tongue when a memory pounded to the surface like a bubble popping in my brain.

I would forget our walk down the beach. The very last time I’d ever spoken to him. My head felt heavy, and I cradled it, closing my eyes. What had he said then? ‘Sometimes if you talk enough sense, you can lose your mind.’ We’d both shivered in the sea breeze.

I was losing my mind. My head suddenly grew so heavy that I collapsed to the concrete, feeling pain swell inside of it. I groaned, clutching my head. A burst of clarity shot through my consciousness.

What was I trying to do? Oh stars, what had I been doing the last few days! I’d cursed Mickey!! And--I wasn’t going to lose those memories. I wasn’t going to forget him! I grabbed the mirror, fighting with the loose feeling that was now bubbling within my head, making it feel light again. The last I saw was the pale face’s unsurprised expression before I smashed the mirror to pieces.

I stumbled to my feet, feeling everything getting lighter and lighter.

The book. I would use the book again. No. Scrambling, I tore the a blank page from the end of the spellbook and wrote a rune frantically, stuffing it back into the book. I barely let go of the thing when it burst into flame, burning the tips of my fingers.

I hissed, falling back again and glaring.

What the starfallen horsefeathers had just happened? I stared at the flaming mound of spells. My eyes widened, and I grabbed the edge of my skirt, frantically trying to put out the fire.

I was too late. The book was ashes. My brow went down, and I stared in between the broken mirror and the book. I hadn’t even been able to look through the book completely. Some of those spells were lost forever. I kicked the mound of ash angrily, sending the remains flying into the air. It had been the bit of conscience or whatever it was still left in me. It wanted to stop me. It had _ruined things_ . I could already have my answer by now if...I looked down at the mess. I would need a new mirror. It was so stupid of me. In my rush to try and stop myself, I’d forgotten about my own ability. It didn’t matter if the book had burned. I could still remember the page to perfection. And I _would_ summon the mirror spirit again and agree to his price, if only to spite that part of myself.

I walked up the stairs slowly, and if I was capable of feeling tired at this point, I would have been exhausted. But I wasn’t. I was just determined. Determined to finish this. When I got to the kitchen I saw the distant light of the sun rising. Another day was coming, and I still needed to go back to Oddswells house for a few things.

I needed to go back to the cog.

It had been long enough.


	74. November 4, Friday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> The past couple weeks have been really interesting/crazy.  
> First off, I got an internship!! For the past month I have been doing some remote (over the internet) copy editing for a publisher.  
> It's mostly writing and editing blog posts, but it's experience, so I am very happy about it.  
> Also! Two weeks ago they gave me an actual manuscript to copy edit. I've been super excited about that.  
> And then I got sick. XD  
> So, all of it, including Inky Extras ended up going on a back burner to that.  
> But I finally have this edited and ready to post, so I feel pretty accomplished. Hope you enjoy this bit before the madness started.

There were just three more things that needed to happen before I stole the pearl, offed the cup brothers, and summoned Cala.  Cala was a stubborn soul. She’d proven that she wouldn’t speak under normal circumstances. Originally, I had planned to let her dry out to convince her to talk, but that seemed a bit anti-productive really. There were much easier ways to get information out of people.

Runes. Spells. Herbs.

Secondly, I had a feeling that Alice’s suspicions of me would eventually come to fruition, and so I needed to find some way to combat it. That was the largest problem, honestly. Demons and angels were near invincible as far as hearsay went, but I knew there had to be more special little tomes hidden in the restricted section that could give me insight into how to handle it if I gave myself time to research and think about the problem.

And last of all. I needed to fix the basement if I was going to stick her there for an extended period of time.

But first.

It had been more than a day since I’d even seen the cog! I needed just a moment, then I would go back to my research. Just a moment…

I walked down the long dirt road into the city. It was only when I reached a street corner at the nearest road that I realized the people walking about were staring at me.

I blinked and looked down at myself, seeing that in my haste I had walked out the door and down the road with ash still covering my dress and skirt. The hem was burned badly, and the lace at the edge had curled into a pathetic clump. I reached up and pulled away a hand covered in more ash.

What had I been thinking?

I stared down at myself and then at my hand. I’d walked out without even noticing this. What else had I missed in all this haste? I closed my hand and hurried down the road.

Instead of going to Oddswell’s like I’d planned, I went back to the apartment, knowing Alice wouldn’t be there. I pulled off my skirt and dress and replaced them with clean clothes and then sat on my bed, frowning at the wall.

I sat there, staring at the wall for almost an hour before I was satisfied. I’d made a lot of mistakes in the past few days.

I’d cursed Pete again. Even if he didn’t say anything, the police would recognize the work. And his sudden confession would definitely be suspicious to two intelligent detectives like Ringtail and Featherworth.

Also, I’d let that mouse just roam around the city, free to mess with any plans I had or might make in the future. If I was going to punish him, I should have found a way to send him somewhere far away.

Even if he wasn’t speaking, which at this point it looked like he wasn’t, what sort of person wouldn’t try and find a way out of their predicament?

He would be trouble.

And that wasn’t even starting with all the little mistakes I’d made around Alice even without her little emotion sensing trick.

And then there was Cala.

This needed to happen tonight. Cala would be back soon, and at this point, I didn’t have time to get a new mirror and risk whatever backlash came from removing that many memories from my head. It would be a risky move to take just for spite.

Besides. That little note, the scene left at the warehouse, and Cala’s hesitance made it pretty clear to me that they were the enemy.

Which meant no more impulsive moves.

And the cog...I knew it swept my senses away faster than I could think. If I went to Oddswell’s now, I’d completely forget about any preparations I needed to make.

So.

I needed to finish my research. Build that pool in the basement.

First.

I got up slowly and made my way out the door again. For some reason all these thoughts had brought a heightened sense of awareness to me. I watched the people as they passed me on the street, wondering how much knowledge each knew and whether they’d be the type to share. I looked at the sky, the mountains, the ocean behind me, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was possible to move them.

This, among other things, was why I needed to cog, why I needed all the parts. They seemed capable of altering things in this world that had once seemed unalterable. It was magic to a world shaping level.

I wanted to understand it.

I needed to understand it.

And to do that, I needed all of them.

The simple desire, the intense _need_ to understand the magic of the Ink Machine parts had become almost as painful as my desire to go see the cog again. So, when I got to the library, I was almost ready to just go back to the cog. Still, I held onto what remained of my self control and used ‘Blank’ to go invisible and wander back into the library to the restricted section.

I mourned the loss of the queen’s book of black magic as I lingered at the door, then I slipped inside as I saw Shelly, of all people, enter.

It was a bit dark inside until she switched on the light. I blinked but stared at her as she went to the shelves with a paper, murmuring numbers while she searched the rows for the right call number.

What was she doing?

Her eyes lit up, and she pulled out a book. She got out a rubber band and scribbled a short note before attaching it to the book.

I started down one of the rows, but then my curiosity got the best of me and I went to her, looking over her shoulder.

It was another one of Queen Grimhilde’s books. Unlike the one I’d taken, this was a book on chemistry. Shelly had written neatly on the note the words ‘For Dr. Jekyll.’

I hummed under my breath and stepped back as she went back through the door. Well, it looked like someone other than I had taken an interest in Grimhilde at least.

After Shelly left, I quickly went back into the rows of boxed and locked books. I didn’t bother going back to Grimhilde. What I needed was information on Angels and a spell that would loosen a toon’s senses enough that they would no longer be afraid to speak.

I tried for a book on angels first. The section on them was small and in a tightly locked cabinet with only about two shelves filled.

Even with only two shelves, I would have to come back to read them all. I tapped my fingers impatiently against the sides of the cabinet.

Wait.

What if?

I pulled out my vial of ink and wrote out ‘Day’ and ‘Delay’ on my arm. Then I activated it. Looking around, nothing seemed to change. I frowned, slightly disappointed. Still, trusting in the strange powers of runes, I pulled out a book and started to read.

When I finished it, I snapped it shut and looked up at the clock. I blinked. Five minutes. Only five minutes had passed. I smiled.

It had worked.

The day proceeded on like this. Book after book, only a miniscule amount of time had passed. I worked my way through the angel books quickly and moved onto some of the darker arts. The sun started to rise high the sky. The room got hot. My fingers got sticky. But then, I found it. It turned out I did still need Grimhilde, because when I moved back to her shelf, I found another book, this one entitled ‘Alchemy.’

The spell I found to use on Cala wasn’t as simple as just using runes or even a rune spell. It involved ingredients, burned at the right temperature, and runes that made a person forget where they were, freed their worries from them, made them open to speaking.

Ha! No wonder it was in the archives.

I glanced at Grimhilde’s other books and clicked my tongue. Well, she had been the foremost rune user other than Wiseton and Felix in the last hundred years, so I might as well help myself.

The books I took are listed here.

Alchemy

Astrology

Black Arts

Witchcraft

Disguises

Sorcery

Poisons

The only ones missing from my collection were the Black Magic book I had burned and the Chemistry book that Shelly had taken. Too bad, but there was nothing to be done.

I’ve neglected to mention what I found.

Angels don’t have many weaknesses. They keep their bloodline pure. Angels only marry angels. That ensures that the magic remains strong and the protection spells surrounding them are nearly impregnable to anyone but those with angel blood. Not to mention the obvious. Their powers are almost godly.

However, I did find an interesting passage. It said by using older, more heavily processed obsidian stone and a rune spell, an angel’s magic could be corrupted so that they no longer could use it. It was the stone’s affinity to demons and other dark creatures that made it so deadly to angel’s magic. It enhanced creatures of dark and sullied creatures of light.

The only problem was that I didn’t know where to find an old obsidian stone.

I made my way out of the library and back to the apartment. I hid the books behind a row of my regular books and went back out.

I knew of a few gemstone stores from my wanderings and attempts at getting a job earlier, so I went to one of the shops to ask about the stone.

Obsidian was easy enough to find there. But most of the stones there didn’t have the darker, more pressed look that had been described in the book. Taking some recommendations, I went to other stores to look for better stones, but all I found were the same grey obsidian stones.

It was at one of the shops, however, that I gained an interesting idea. I had been holding a stone, considering buying it because it had a slightly darker quality than the rest, when I remembered the stone I had made from the Ink Illness ink. I pulled it out an examined it. The Ink had shown several signs of having some sort of dark curse. Could I use this instead? Did it have an affinity to darkness?

I still bought the obsidian, but I kept that thought near me in my mind as I left the last gemstone shop.  

After that, I stopped at Minnie’s. There, I gathered the herbs I’d read about in Grimhilde’s spellbook and chatted with Minnie for a moment as I eyed the rune symbol I knew was just underneath the counter. It amused me that it was so easy to manipulate people when they cared about others. Focusing on what was necessary to meet my goals had made my life so much easier than when I was constantly worrying about how things would _affect_ people. The right herbs purchased, I scoped out the docks for a good private boathouse in which to dispatch the cups.

It wasn’t hard, really. People didn’t like going near the Sykes warehouse, and now that it had burned down, people had become even more spooked. I found a place, just barely big enough for what I had in mind. That done, my preparations outside my little cottage in the woods were finished.

I could see the cog.

When I got to the house, Featherworth and Ringtail were walking out. I blinked as my eyes met theirs. I had a good idea what they would be here about. I smiled then. “Oh, hello detectives!”

Featherworth paused in the doorway, a uncertain smile blinking across her face for half a second before she smiled. “Hello Holly. It’s good to see you. Glad we were able to run into you here, actually. We have a few questions for you.”

She was suspicious. Maybe not even to a point were she was conscious of it, but Pete’s mysterious new ailment would have stood out to her. I paused, giving her an extra bright smile. “Of course. What is it?”

They asked me all the questions I expected about the mouse’s disappearance. Ha! His ‘disappearance.’ They had no idea. He was standing right behind them. I could feel him there, hovering agitatedly as the detectives spoke.

So this was where he’d decided to go after being left with no other options. An admirable determination really. But who cared about redeeming qualities in a selfish schmuck?

As I suspected, they asked me about Pete. I kept my demeanor relaxed. As far as anyone knew, my last bit of contact with him had been at the diner. Except Alice. Alice would know I’d been gone after everyone else returned home.

Another problem. I fingered the ink illness stone through the cloth of my bag. Would corrupting her magic with the stone work? I didn’t really have any other options though, if she acted on her suspicions. Which is why I had that last, final backup.

The detectives finished with their interrogation. After they left, I wandered into the room with the others. Out of a bit of humor that struck me, I suggested we go search for the mouse. He shifted at that, body shaking with anger again. It almost made me laugh.

They started talking about how the assassins had been responsible for Red’s attack. It all bored me to tears because I knew that they wouldn’t be doing anything about it anyway.

It was that trust that Bendy and Boris kept giving more and more and more of.

The moment I was sure everyone looked away, I used my ‘Fade’ spell and practically flew up the stairs, past the lab and into the study.

It was still there.

My hands trembled with anticipation the moment I moved into the room. Oh, it had been long. So long. I could feel the power rising from the cog like it was a fierce fire coming from an oven. And something else. Something behind the cog. Beyond it?

My fingers slid onto the etches of the cog. They tightened around the edges, and I leaned forward to press my forehead against the metal.

The surge of energy that rushed through my head and then body made me gasp. It was so powerful that it felt like the magic was entering every vein in my body, bringing fire with it. The world around me dimmed, and I gasped a second time. There was that feeling again. There was something behind it.

I closed my eyes and suddenly had the sensation that I was in a an enormous empty space. Cold, black, but there was something out there too. Something living. Something else. On impulse, I reached out, reached for whatever was out there. My fingers brushed something in the phantom space. But it was stuck. Using my magic this time, I reached out again, pulling harder.

The rush of energy increased to the point that my head spun. Then, there was a pop.

I fell back, panting. Slightly disoriented, I looked at the cog. The room was back to normal. Just a study room. No blackness. No empty space. No mysterious prescences. No--My hand brushed something. I looked down in surprise to see an ornate silver pocket watch on the ground beside me.

Picking it up, I looked at. Wait. It had a similar presence as the cog. I tilted it, frowning. But not quite. I stood up, still staring at the watch. This. This would be worth looking into. But not now. I couldn’t be distracted.

After more time had passed, I reluctantly left the cog again. It was strange. On the way out, a deadly silence had fallen on the house. Being who I was, I couldn’t help but pause and wait to see what had happened. The angel, the wolf, the demon and the tupperware brothers all sat in the main room together, grim looks on their faces. I felt the mouse cowering in some far corner of the house.

Oddswell, shaky and grim, moved down the stairs. “The time has come that we have lost a gentle soul to the Ink Illness,” he whispered. I blinked. Oh? Who? “She was a noble person of power and kindness that knew no limit. She died hoping that we would press on. That--That our mission to find a cure will succeed and all those that have sacrificed to this goal can rest easy.”

“And we will,” Boris said suddenly. “We will build the Ink Machine and save everyone that we can. Blue Fairy saved Bendy, Cuphead, and Felix’ lives. The least we can do is this.”

My eyes widened slightly. It had been the Blue Fairy that had died? The fairy who had granted more than a thousand wishes? Ink Illness was proving to be a formidable force, taking the weak and strong alike.

Bendy nodded. “We won’t rest until there’s a cure.” He looked exhausted with worry as he turned to the disheveled doctor and nurse. “We can’t give in to despair. Not now. We have two parts. We have three to go. If anyone can beat this thing, it’s everyone in this house. Everyone that has helped us up to now.” His hand clenched. “A lot of people have suffered. A lot have died, but they wouldn’t want us to get weighed down. We are pushing forward, and we are doing it for them.” Yet, I could see that shadow hanging over his head, the question that inevitably would enter the mind of anyone present who had Ink Illness. Would he survive. He was putting on a strong front, and he did believe his little speech, but that dark presence still loomed. I didn’t bother to stick around after this. It would be a nice distraction for me to use. Tonight was the right night. If those two assassins just up and disappeared with all their things, the others would be too busy with the Blue Fairy’s funeral to look for at least a few days. It would look like they just left. Now was the time to strike.

I slipped back out of the house and made my way back to my little cottage in the woods. Working in the basement, I used runes to carve out the bottom and line it with cement. It was different work than I was used to. And if I hadn’t taken the extra time to look at the books in the library, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. It impressed upon me that I needed more. I needed more knowledge. I needed to read every one of those books in the library. Otherwise, there would _always_ be something I missed.

It would have to wait for later, however. It was starting to get dark but the light wasn't quite gone yet.

But.

With this nice bit of extra time, I had one more thing I could take care of.

Snowball.

That little rat had some payback coming.

And I knew just where she must have run back to after my little scare in the infirmary.

I walked back to Granny’s house, practicing my smile as I walked. It was getting harder and harder to feign emotion lately, and being so close to the end of my plans, I couldn’t ruin it now. I needed to play the perfect, kind, calm, sweet girl for Alice.

With that, I swung the house door open and walked inside.

“Hello,” I said quietly, peeking my head around the hall and into the front room.

“Hello dear,” Granny said wearily from one of the couches. She was distractedly trying to knit something. “I’m glad you came by to visit.”

I allowed the right amount of time for a pause. ““I heard what happened. I’m so sorry,” I said, gazing at the floor to hide the fact that I really couldn’t put a huge amount of emotion into my frown. To bad I couldn’t just get to the point and ask where the white rat was. I had to be careful.

Just then, I felt it. A shift in my magic. _The mouse_ was still here. I suppressed a smirk and scanned the front room.

“It’s been a hard day all ‘round.” Finley sighed from his seat. Always trying to be a support, huh, Finley?

I nodded, wandering into the room and sitting down next to the fox. He smiled at me.

“Where have you been all day, Holly?” Alice asked, a tense tone to her voice. “I’ve been a little worried.”

I shrugged. “Looking for Snowball. Still haven’t found her.” I paused and looked at each of the other people in the room. “Has anyone seen Snowball in the last couple days, anyways?”

Alice looked up, so did Bendy and crackhead. Everyone slowly shook their heads. I held back the impulse to glare at the assassin. I knew she was there. I knew she was in his pocket. That liar. But instead, I allowed my mouth to drop in a frown of worry. I looked at crackhead.

“I know she likes you a lot. Are you sure you haven’t seen her?” Are you going to lie again, trench coat?

The guy snorted, but I caught the quick blink before it. “No. I’m pretty sure I don’t have a little puffball running around my head.”

He had it. And he had the mouth to snap at me while he was lying. A wave of rage rose within me, and I fought it down, hiding the last of it with a sigh. “I’m just so worried.”

Fine. I would take her when I killed him and his brother.

“Well, I’m going to grab something to eat then,” I said a moment later. To temper my anger and test to see if the mouse would follow me, I went to the kitchen. The mouse didn’t move from his spot in the hall. Aw, was he trying to be careful?

I shoved the food into my mouth, tasting nothing. It was sweet relief when I finished. I put the plate away and picked up my bag as I came back in. “Well, I’m going to go out and look some more. You guys have a good night.” The lies came easy as I flung them over my shoulder.

It would seem that more people than Alice were getting suspicious. That crack-head might be thinking something if he was pretending not to know about the rat. This was a problem. If that ceramic dunce or Alice said anything that swayed them...Hmm. I needed to move faster. 

Just then, I felt the prick of my magic, and I smiled. So the little mouse had followed. Obviously, he was looking for a way to lift the curse by himself. The question was what to do about the mouse? What to do? What to do? I wasn’t sure how long it would be until Alice came back to the apartment, and that was one of the only private places I had. I could use the little house I had just purchased, but then he’d know where it was. And having him be alive and suffering was the point. It would be a waste to just _kill_ him. Although, if he became too much of a problem that would be the easy solution.

 _But_ if he continued to follow me like this, he’d get in the way tonight.

Well then. I’d just have to take care of him for now. Stick him in a closet until it didn’t matter anymore. I hummed. Now then, what rune to use? I could go for the ones I’d used before. But that would be so boring. I could be more creative than that.

Oooo. What about the spell that summoned the deadly amazonian choker? I'd found it while I had been in the restricted archives of the library. That would work. But with Alice being so sensitive to magic, it would be good to find a way to dampen its effects a little. But that would take so much research as well, and I didn’t have the time!

But…

It wouldn’t be that strange if I was using magic in my own bedroom. If she asked, I could just tell her I was practicing. Testing. It wouldn’t be a lie. This was a new spell after all.

When I entered the apartment and closed the door behind me, I felt him hesitate below. I paid it no heed, writing with some chalk on the short carpet bristles. I got in bed and waited.

He got a little closer. By the front door. Then, he paused. A little closer. A little closer. It seemed to take an eternity. He knew something was wrong, and yet he was still stupid enough to come in. What a dolt. What sort of desperate soul walked knowingly into a trap.

I thought about it for a moment and giggled. Well, I guess I hadn’t given him that many options anyways.

Closer. And closer. And closer.

I rolled over in bed, waiting.

There was the sound of air moving as the door swung open.

He paused there for a moment. Just as I was considering activating the rune from a distance, he _finally_ walked forward.

I activated the rune.

The carnivorous vines sprung from where I summoned them, grasping the invisible mouse like he was its last meal. The hungry mouth almost made its way from the portal when I withdrew my magic and cut the vines off. They loosened their hold, but only a bit. 

I sat up and turned to the mouse, smiling. “You know, sneaking into a lady’s room is rude, mousy.”

The vines looped around the invisible form shifted slightly, but there was no other response. Well, he had no other option for a response really. I chuckled inwardly.

Slipping out of bed, I put my elbows on my legs and balancing my head on my hands. “I’d ask you what you thought you could accomplish here, but that would be pretty pointless, now wouldn’t it?” The form moved a little more. If I’d guess, I’d say he was angry. Not that there was much to tell from a little movement. “Well, for now I need you to stay out of my way, so you’re going to be spending the night here.” I got up and closed my bedroom door, checking just in case Alice might have come in without me hearing. Nothing. I went back and grabbed the mouse, dragging him to the middle of the room. I considered my options. The two best places really were the closet and underneath the bed. I looked down at him. “So what would you prefer? Underneath the bed or inside the closet?”

The body moved underneath my hand, jerking towards the bed.

I grinned. Like I was going to give him what he wanted. “The closet then.” I shoved him inside and shut the door.

Now, I’m sitting here and writing, waiting for Alice to come home, so I can wait for her to fall asleep, so I can go out and get some work done. Too bad I have to go through all this stupid formality to get to the point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, [Ray](https://ray-shidazu.tumblr.com/) drew some Holly art on tumblr.
> 
> She also drew the two versions of Holly as well as Snowball. Snowball is so cute!
> 
> In addition to this, [fantastickingdomus](https://fantastickingdomus.tumblr.com/) drew the two Hollys too! These two are amazing artists. Their talent blows me away. Thanks for drawing!


	75. Interview 1 with Aura Creed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers! Today is a very special day! We are testing a thing! A new thing! An interview thing! We sat down this Aura Creed, a fellow reader of the series, to do an interview with one of the characters and this is what happened! Please enjoy!

The ghost appeared on a grand stage with long curtains and wood floors. A couple of chairs and a couch rest comfortably around a coffee table. The spector was adjusting the vase and a little cartoonish wrench tastefully on the table.

Mercowe threw a pokeball.

The ghost made a strangled cry as it was sucked into the ball. The ball shook…..and shook….and shook….and popped open. The ghost reappeared, gasping for breath. 

“Dang it,” the newly made owl-bird muttered.

“WHAT THE CUSS, MERCOWE!!!!” the ghost raged. 

“I had to try it at least once,” Mercowe said shrugging.  

“Well stop! We’re getting this ready for company! Stars!” Phantom glared at the other, waving her disembodied claw-like hands in the air. “This is the first time I’ve had a ‘public showing’ beyond comments and an intro note, and I’m so nervous my knees are knocking!” She pointed at the other. “And yes, I know I don’t have knees. Thank you very much.” 

The now Cat-Owl shrugged again. “Then again, you don’t have fingers either, but that hasn’t stopped you from typing.”

Tap looked at her claws with a deadpan glance. “You're hilarious. I really hope you come to regret that form.” 

Mercowe made pterodactyl noises of laughter. “Like you regret being something people can throw books through?” She grinned. 

“Moaning Myrtle had a good point! It’s stardust to have people throwing things through you!” Tap sighed dejectedly. “Do I really need to be the responsible one here? Me? The dead chick?” 

Mercowe waved her tail. “Okay, okay. I’m done.” 

“I hardly believe that.” The ghost tilted her head, widening and narrowing her eyes like she was rolling them.  _ “Anyway,  _ Mic!” the phantom called. 

The thin man in a suit came from the side stage. His suit was pristine, tie straight and shoes glossy. His head, which was a large old-time microphone, gleamed under the stage lights. “Yes, Mrs. Phantom?” 

“Is everything ready for our guest?” Tap asked. 

“Oh yes ma’am! Everything is as fit as a fiddle.” Mic gave a nod. 

“Excellent! Well, let’s not keep everyone waiting!” Tap drifted into one of the chairs. “It’s a very special day! An interview with a fan!” Tap clapped her claws together. “Today’s special guest is Aura Creed! She’ll introduce who we’ll be talking to! Come on out, Aura Creed!”  

Mercowe looked at Mic, who had a finger raised, his mouth half open. “Aren’t introductions his job?”

The ghost froze. She turned to Mic. “I am so sorry I stole your job! Next time Mic, I promise!” The microphone chuckled and waved it off before leaving the stage. “I owe him a raise.” The ghost drops her head in shame. 

“You pay him?” Mercowe put one paw on top of the other.

“Of course--I got him off the isles after all.” Tap lifted her claws in a shrug. 

“Isn’t that called kidnapping? Or Micnapping?” The Owl-Cat blinked. 

“It wasn’t like he really fought! And what are you saying? You wanna go there in his place?” Tap tilted her head at the strange creature. 

The owl-cat waved its tail slowly. “Do you really want  _ me  _ to go in his place? I could cause a lot of trouble with the things I know.” She smiled simply and shrugged again.

The phantom stared at the animal deadpan. “Let’s just talk to the fan now Mercowe. Aura Creed, come on out!” The audience that the ghost hadn’t acknowledged in any way shape or form applauded. A pokeball came from behind the side stage and thunked the owl-cat on the back of the head. She blinked in surprise before disappeared in a flash of red light. The audience gasped. The ball shook for a minute on the chair before going still. Tap stared at the ball for a moment before bursting into laughter. She wheezed for breath. “Th-that was so beautiful! Oh man! She is gonna be so--Ha! Will she even get out? I think I have to let her out? Haha! She can stay for a minute.” The ghost brushed a tear away from the corner of her eye. 

Aura Creed stepped out from the side stage. “Did--Did I  _ actually _ get her?”

“Yes! Yes you did! You caught a wild Mercowe! Sorry, I can’t let you take her home! She still has work to do!” Tap laughed giddily from her seat.  

Aura was laughing herself, walking over. “I didn’t actually think it would capture her, haha!”

“We’ll just consider her on break.” Tap waved it off and placed the pokeball on the counter. “Have a seat! We are so excited to have you with us today!” The ghost waved to the couch and empty chair. 

The cactus looked between the two chairs, the plush of the sofa, and the wood of the chair that had until recently been taken up by Mercowe. Aura looked down to her hands before sitting on the chair. “I don’t think you want needles in the couch.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you. Thanks for not destroying our couch.” Tap’s eyes crinkled like she was smiling. “So what brought you to Inky Mystery today?” 

“Adventure.” If hollowed out eyes could sparkle, they were doing a pretty good job of it. “Though I’d honestly not want to be Bendy in all of this--Ink illness, on top of conflicting cultural expectations, is a better story heard from afar.” 

Tap nodded in understanding. “He is in the deep of things now. Poor fella. What has been your favorite part of their quest so far, if you have one?” Tap shrugged. “I have a hard time picking myself.” 

Aura tilted her head, thinking. “There’s multiple--I don’t think I could choose a definite one, but recently, the incident with Cuphead messing with the doll had me in stitches for a good while.”

Tap chuckled. “Those two are going to be passing the buck after that one. Hopefully, things will calm down enough soon that their prank war can really begin.” The ghost chuckled again in glee. “But it’s no secret that most people in the group like pranks. Alice to Boris; Dovil; Finley; and, of course, those Cup brothers. So much mischief! And the  _ Warners!  _ Heavens above. They are a handful everytime they enter a chapter.” The ghost blinked. “Ah! I’m getting distracted! Just one more question before we call in your pick. Besides getting a cure for ink illness, is there anything you are hoping for the future of our questers and crew?” Tap leaned forward excitedly. 

“Multiple things. I wouldn’t be able to narrow it down to one, Alice getting her wings, her and Bendy perhaps getting together, the Cup brothers seeing Elder Kettle again, perhaps even some sort of final confrontation with the Devil--Oh! And even when the ink illness gets cured, Wakko getting his talent back. And not dying. Speaking of…” Aura looked around. “I know they can’t get outside of the story anymore, but is this place a technicality or is it sequestered off somewhere? I would have expected to see at least one of them by now...”

Tap twitched. “Ah, those three. Well, they’re a handful and have a bad habit of stealing the show. Even entire chapters from me! This place is invite-only, luckily. That, and they have been dealing with things that will have significance later.” Tap clapped her claws together. “They would throw me out, and who knows what would happen next if they were here.” She chuckled nervously. “But I think it’s time to name our last guest today. Who is it that you would like to talk to?” The pokeball on the table shook. “Oh, I guess she should be here for this.” The ghost reached out and released the ball. It snapped open. The red light landed on the couch and the owl-cat reappeared a little more ruffled than before. 

“Mreow,” she grumbled. “I guess I got what I deserved.” She looked around at the cactus. “Hello!” She grinned. “Good aim?” The ghost was shaking with suppressed laughter, rolling around the chair and even through it once. 

The owl-cat glared at the ghost. “Oh shush, Tap.” She stuck out her tongue. 

“Love you too!” Tap sat up. “But we’re interrupting! Aura Creed was just about to introduce who we are talking to.” Tap waved her floating claw to the cactus. “I’m sure the audience wants to know!”

“Actually, I don’t even know his name yet.” Aura looked offstage, head peering over the back of the chair. “He’s an angel, a head guy in the military, and Alice’s brother, but I don’t know anything else about him.” 

Tap sat up in surprise. “Ooooooh! Someone not even in the story yet! How exciting!” The ghost clapped energetically. She turned to the side stage. “Oh Mic! Could you bring Isaac?” There was a ruckus behind the curtains for a moment. They heard the sound of a door opening and a wave of familiar voices could be heard. “Oh no, Mic has his mic on.” Tap dropped her head in her hands. 

“Th-they called for Isaac! Isaac to the stage please!” Mic said. The room quieted for a moment before it erupted in noise. 

“But he hasn’t even been in the story yet!” Cuphead argued. 

“I was sure it’d be me!” Hat snapped. “This has to be a mistake!” 

“Now, now,” Alice said. “Let him go. You get enough attention Hat.” 

“Are you sure it’s me?” a smooth male voice asked uncertainly. 

“That’s what the boss says,” Mic told him. Tap started to bang her head into the arm of the chair. It didn’t really work since she just went through it.    
  
Aura leaned towards Mercowe, a big grin on her face. “Does this happen often?”

Mercowe snickered back to her. “More often than you think,” she said with a wink. “When we were roommates she’d just go through a wall to her ‘room.’ It was fun to tease her about ghost stuff like the Ghostbusters.”

“Okay then,” the male voice said. “Bye guys. Good seeing you again, sis. Don’t break anything.”

“Hey!” Alice complained before the sound of a door closing could be heard. There was a bit more ruckus from behind the curtains, and then a tall, male angel stepped out on stage. He was thin but muscular, built like a swimmer. He looked fast. He had the same dark hair and eyes as his sister. His hair was cut short on the sides but longer on the top. He had four large, feathery white wings that seemed to glow softly. The halo over his head glowed with warmth. His face was a bit narrow but definitely handsome. He wore a tunic with fine stitching and pants that were partly hidden by the leather sheath that held a sword. There was also a dagger strapped to his leg.

Mercowe whistled. “Wow. He looks cool.” Tap beamed with pride.    
  
“He has four wings!” Aura was almost hopping in her seat, whispering excitedly. “How does he fly like that?”

Issac blinked in surprise before giving a charming half-smile and scratching the back of his head. “Oh, well. It’s not so different from two really.” He stepped up to the chairs and raised a hand to the cactus. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Isaac, one of Alice’s older brothers.” 

“Do they help with flight more than two would? Do all angels have four wings or is it only a few? Do--Oh!” Aura hopped up in her chair, standing up as she moved her hand to shake his. “Nice to meet you, too!” Her hand paused mid-word, just before it touched his. “Er...I keep forgetting about the needles.” She pulled it back. “My bad.”

He chuckled deep in his chest and dropped his hand. “It’s fine.” He unstrapped the sword and sat next to Mercowe on the couch, who moved to give him room. 

“Was the sword necessary, Izzy? This is one of my rooms,” Tap grumbled. 

Isaac shrugged. “A guardian angel always has to be prepared.” He turned to Aura Creed. “And to answer your questions, wings are more than just for flying. They hold power. The more wings an angel has, the stronger their magic is.” Isaac grinned. “And only certain angels can grow more than one set of wings. I am what you would call an archangel.” 

“Do they work similar to halos? Does an angel gain more powerful magic once they gain their wings?” She’d hopped back up on the chair, moving it to face him.

“They do, in a way.” Isaac lifted a hand to his chin. “A halo is given to a baby angel and then imprints on the angel’s magic, making it unique to that angel.” He shrugged. “Wings are earned through some sort of action. The most I’ve ever seen is ten, and that angel didn’t need to use a miracle to complete large magical feats.” His own wings shifted a bit behind him, feathers brushing the floor and couch behind him. “The first set is always earned through an act of charity toward another, though. That doesn’t change from angel to angel, but for archangels and those that can get more, it’s a guess on the other pairs.”    
  
“Can...can you even fly with ten wings?” Aura fidgeted in her chair. “I can’t even imagine trying to get around with that many.. Anyway! If wings are similar to a halo, if removed, would the magic loss be on par or worse then a halo? And what do you mean by a guess? Is it another task they have to do, or could it be as simple as cooking dinner or throwing a ball that gets other pairs of wings? Those that can get more?”

Isaac laughed. “Honestly? With ten wings, I have no clue. I am betting it’s more magic than flying at that point.” He sobered a bit after that. “And as for removing them, well that’s most angels’ worst nightmare. They don’t just grow back, even those of us that have multiple. The scars will remain.” He frowned. “And that’s usually the goal for dark creatures.” He shook his head. “But besides that, it really could be something as simple as a letter written or a dinner made for someone else. You never know how important something you do means to someone else.” He shrugged. “I got my second pair from saving a woman from a water demon.” 

Aura hummed. “A water demon? I didn’t think there could be water demons. You know about the other types? And what act of charity got you your first set of wings?”

Isaac brightened up, he even bounced a little on the couch. “There are all kinds of dark creatures we angels face and various demons, fire, water, dream, shadow, plant, imps, and so on. It’s difficult to know what you are going to face in battle.” He raised his brows, his smile brightening. “And as for my first set, it was great! I was on the Surface for three months. I had tried everything I could think of--like most angels, volunteering, getting cats from trees, walking old ladies across roads.” He chuckled, his eyes full of humor. “But it was when I came across this one kid, a young man actually. He was cornered in an alley, surrounded by a group of about five other older men.” The angel crossed his arms. “I overheard. The kid was standing up to them for hurting someone else. He was going to report them to someone, can’t really remember who, but they weren’t happy with that. I jumped in to help him against the unfair odds.” Isaac grinned. “As soon as the fight was over, he thanked me, and I got my wings. I knew I wanted to defend those that were trying to do the right thing.” 

“Awww,” Tap hummed. “Cute.” Isaac chuckled and shook his head shily. Tap leaned toward Aura Creed. “Most angels learn something when they earn their first pair of wings,” the ghost stage whispered. 

“Ooh,” she spoke softly, nodding before turning back to Isaac. “You mentioned dream demons? Do their powers only work in dreams? Have you fought one? What about shadow demons?” 

Isaac sat back. “Dream demons usually have to fight through magic instead of the sword. I have never had to face one myself, but my friend Michael did. He said it was a terrifying experience. Shadow demons are very similar, but with weapons of light, they are easier to handle. The trick is to find them in the dark. Once you do, it’s as simple as an imp.” Isaac smirked. “But you have to be sure it’s a shadow demon. Most demons have some power over the dark. You could be going after a shadow demon and let your guard down, only to find that it’s something much worse.” Isaac waved a hand in the air. 

“You aren’t scary Isaac,” Tap scoffed. “You are the last person that could tell a scary story.” 

“No, that’s David,” Isaac pointed out with his chin raised and a smirk. 

“Eh...true,” the ghost admitted. 

“David?” Aura looked back and forth between the two. Mercowe perked up with interest as well.

“My youngest brother,” Isaac explained. “He’s a bit of a prodigy.” 

“How big is your family?”

Isaac’s charming half-smile returned. “Well, there’s my parents, me, Luke, Mary, Alice, Abigail, Rachel, and David--oh, and Grandmama. So three boys and four girls. It’s a good sized family.” 

“No kidding.” The cactus sat back in the chair. “Are you the eldest sibling?”

“Yes.” Isaac grinned. “And it can be a chore on top of all my other duties.” 

“Before Alice left to do her act of charity, what was she like? Is she the youngest sibling?”

He rolled his eyes up, sighed, and then laughed. “She’s actually the middle kid, but with some of the trouble she gets into, you would think she was the youngest.” He leaned back against the couch and threw an arm across the back of it. “She would drag anyone into her pranks or accidents. She was always cracking puns, and she would never be where she was supposed to be!” 

He raised a hand, palm up, “I remember this one time she had somehow gotten her halo tangled up in the mane of this cherubim. She and Jake, he’s a messenger archangel, were chasing the thing all over the Sanctuary. They broke a number of pillars and statues before mom was able to stop the chaos!” Isaac laughed. “She was on mopping duty for a week!” He dropped the hand onto his knee. “The architect was livid.” 

“I’d be livid too! I’d have more work to do.” Aura laughed. “What’s the angel tier system? Or the hierarchy I suppose--archangels, regular angels, etc? You also mentioned cherubims. What are those?”

“Ah! Alice really hasn’t said anything, has she?” Isaac blinked. He shook his head. “Dear, well. We work with the nine choirs of angels, though you’ll usually only see about five of them in the Upper. The Upper is governed by the Council of Seven. It’s made up of seven archangels that have been specially picked for their Talent and trained. They mostly worry about the people in the Upper, the Surface, and of course, handling the dark monsters and demons. There is also cosmic order that other angels handle, but we don’t focus too much on those.” He shrugged. 

Isaac tapped his knee thoughtfully. “The dominions sometimes come to the Council to give updates on things. They go in between the cosmic and the earthly things. A strange bunch, if you ask me. Cherubims are usually guards. They are these animal-like beings with multiple heads, wings, eyes. It can get wild. The one Alice annoyed had a goat head, a lion head, and a hawk head. They look  _ weird." _ Isaac chuckled. “There are also thrones. They’re these rings with eyes and wings and halos. They are really powerful, but they work on some cosmic thing I don’t get. I think it involved time? I tuned out all the technical stuff.” 

Tap groaned. “This is why you drive your dad nuts.” 

Isaac smiled and shrugged. “I care about the people. What can I say? I know archangels and angels best. We work the most with people. It’s a lot of fun. Archangels are usually put in charge of a group of angels. I’m actually the head of the guardian angels.” 

Tap leaned over again. “He’s on the Council. He is the head guy in charge of all the guardian angels,” she stage-whispered. 

“No wonder he looks so prepared,” Mercowe commented.

Isaac leaned forward and stage-whispered with a cheeky smile. “You know I can hear you, right?” 

Tap waved him off and sat back. He laughed as he straightened up. His wings fluttered a little. 

Aura smiled. “Guardian angels? Is it protecting certain people, or is it more like a military? What other groups are there? And as part of the council, do you have to do any diplomatic work with demons? How does an angel become fallen?” She took a breath, pausing a moment before looking to Tap. “And this has been bugging me for awhile, but talents are something everyone seems to have--Is it just part of angel and demon magic, or is it something completely separate from it? Like…If Boris was an angel, he’d have angel magic on top of his musical talent or something.”

Isaac tilted his head back and forth thoughtfully. “Being a guardian angel is part military and part guide. We are mostly the defense against dark forces on the Surface. Some guardians are assigned to a single person or a group too. We guide people in times of need. The offensive part of the military are the warrior angels. They actively hunt down dark creatures and demons, sometimes even going to hell in the name of justice. That’s what my friend Michael does.” Isaac leaned back. “Otherwise, we have the healers, the messengers, the hall of recorders, the seers, and the level of judges.” Isaac pursed his lips. “That’s most of everything the archangels focus on. With the treaty in place, there are demons that are allowed on the Surface world, but that was figured out before I was part of the Council.” He shrugged a single shoulder, his wings shifted with the motion. 

Mercowe lifted a paw. “So you could say that because you teach your guardian angels, you are a type of defense against the dark arts teacher?” 

He laughed. “You could say that. I’ll have to tell Mikey that he’s an auror.” He turned back to Aura Creed. “But I have been there to judge two different demons. Those will come up in the story I think.” He glanced at Tap. The ghost nodded. “So angels usually fall because they betray the laws of the Upper and its people. Usually, it’s for selfish or greedy reasons. But once in awhile you hear about someone who became more loyal to some other group or cause and are willing to betray us. It’s really rare, those.” He swallowed and shifted a little uncomfortably. “Falling doesn’t happen often, and when it does, it’s usually really heartbreaking.” 

Tap nodded. “And for talents, it’s an individual thing that each person has, angel, demon, or average joe. It’s actually harder for magical beings to figure out their talents. Because they have their magic, it could be covering whatever gift they have.” 

“It’s true. I still have no clue what mine is, but my sister Mary, her talent is her voice. She is an amazing singer,” Isaac added. 

“Well no,” Tap said. Isaac smacked his forehead. 

“Oh yeah, right. The visions. Oops.” Isaac chuckled. “She just likes her singing so much that I always think it’s her talent, and her visions are so rare, so it’s easy to get them mixed up.” 

Tap nodded. “See what I mean? Magical beings have a tough time, but each has their own talent. Some are magical, some aren’t. The council members and those that are in training to be council members actually inherit a special talent that helps in their calling as archangels.”

“What! Really!” Isaac gasped. 

Tap stared at him deadpan. “This is why you should  _ listen to your father! He even told you what your talent is! TWICE!”   _ Isaac ducked his head at the chastisement. 

Mercowe tilted her head. “I was wondering why he didn’t know what all of their talents were.”

“Because he’s an airhead,” Tap muttered. 

“Heeey.” Isaac frowned, his wings drooped. 

“What is your mother’s talent?” Tap asked. 

“Easy! She can detect lies! None of us can get anything past her!” Isaac crossed his arms. 

Tap raised a brow. “You sure?” 

“Yes!” Isaac declared. The ghost stared at him. He frowned. “No.” The ghost snorted. 

Mercowe facepalmed herself with her paw.

Aura chortled. Tap shook her head. “Well anyway, besides the weirdness of the Seven Archangels, everyone else has a talent plus whatever else their genes and life give them. That nonsense,” Tap waved a claw at Isaac, “will be better explained by someone else.” Isaac frowned and looked away. 

Aura laughed. “Everyone has their faults it seems, though it might help to know what your own talent is… especially if it’s the main reason you got a council position.” She smiled. “What do you know about the angel and demon war that happened over a thousand years ago? And do you know anything about the Micco?”

Isaac blinked and straightened. His light-hearted attitude turned serious. “The legends and history of the war are the very reason we angels are so careful now.” He glanced at Tap for some kind of signal. 

“Go ahead, everyone will learn about it eventually.” The ghost waved him on. “Just not too much.” 

The angel nodded. “The records say that the demons once lived on the Surface with all the other creatures, but they betrayed us all. Consumed with greed, they sought to take the world and plunge in into darkness. The world divided between us, those that sided with the demons and those that sided with us angels. It was a grueling war. There are many legends and heroes from it. But in the end, the Devil and his people lost and were cast into hell. Their allies were cursed and scattered.” Isaac frowned grimly. “Even still, there was loss on both sides. It is unclear, but if I remember correctly, the Micco civilization was lost in the aftermath of the war. Something terrible happened. Only a desert and ruins are left of those great people.” 

He folded his arms and continued. “The peace treaty was formed between the Devil and the Council of Seven to avoid a second war and to allow a few of the Devil’s kind on the Surface again to see if they can ever live with the Surface in peace. The Upper has been divided on whether it was a wise choice to allow them into the world again. It’s been uneasy. Every rogue demon the warriors chase in hell could be the one that sparks up a fight to start the war anew.” Isaac shrugged. “Some think it would be good to just rid the world of demons once and for all, but others believe there needs to be a balance. I myself am unsure,” he admitted. “I know I don’t want to see bloodshed.” 

“If it means anything…I think your people did the right thing, letting at least a few wander the surface. If they were never allowed to try and prove themselves again, it wouldn’t be fair for generations down the line, even if bad things do happen because of it. Though I’d always want to give a chance as opposed to denying them one at all.” Aura leaned a bit forward in her chair. “You’re unsure on the decision itself, but do you have an opinion on demons themselves?”

Isaac stared at the cactus for a moment before smiling gently. “Well, that’s on the line between a demon’s reasoning and his nature. Personally, I have seen them as monsters when attacking innocent people. But at the two trials I have been a part of when judging a demon,” he pursed his lips, “I can’t deny that they seem to have a level of humanity to them. At least some of them. I have definitely fought more than I’ve spoken to. But I am much like you, I like to give people a chance. I don’t think a child should pay for the mistake of the parents.” He smiled and shrugged again. “It can be an unpopular opinion when it comes to demons though. Many in the Upper, angel or not, consider them barely above a beast and the very example of evil.” 

“I feel as though considering them only a beast is to already lose to them in combat. Or… at least the ones that aren’t just charging.” Aura hummed. “What can you tell us about angel runes?”

Isaac startled at the topic change and laughed a deep laugh. “Oh, I’m not sure. I guess it depends on what you want to know.” 

“Are they similar to Micco runes? Which one came first? What makes them more powerful than runes that regular toons can use? How often are they used in combat?”

He chuckled and grabbed his sword. “Well, Micco runes are similar. The ones today are very basic and have nowhere near the power they once held. I’ve heard legends of the Micco having entire cities based on a foundation of runes, even more so than the Sanctuary. So I can’t be sure if one was stronger than the other. It is angel runes that hold the greater power now though.” He shifted and brought the sword in front of him, one hand on the sheath and the other gripping the hilt. “Neither am I sure which one came first. It’s possible they may even have the same origin. But.” He unsheathed the blade. It glowed with the same white-gold light as his wings. “For combat, runes are forged into the very weapons we use. For many of the dark creatures we face, only light and magic can do any harm.” He showed the the runes that were carved onto the steel of the blade and the hilt. 

“Very showy Izzy, nice job.” Tap gave him a thumbs up. The angel sighed and gave her a look. “As a ghost, you really should consider rest.” 

“But then your story will never come!” Tap chuckled. The angel sighed again before sheathing the blade. 

“Ain’t no rest for the wicked.” Aura grinned. 

Tap spurted with laughter. “That’s beautiful! Yes!” 

Isaac shook his head. “Don’t encourage her. Everyone has to do their best to rein her in.” 

“I’m guessing Hat doesn’t help much, huh?”

“Absolutely not, but the worst are still the Warners and, strangely enough, Cuphead,” Isaac mused thoughtfully. “But he appears to be a handful for anyone to deal with. I don’t know how his brother manages.” 

Tap snorted. “Technically you haven’t met yet,” the ghost pointed out. Isaac shrugged, undisturbed. 

Mercowe raised a brow. “Technically, he has no clue who any of us are or what he’s doing here. It’s all a dream~!” She waved her paw dramatically.

“He’s not going to remember the dream at all, is he?” Aura asked.

“Everyone in my room is allowed a level of awareness that doesn’t exist in the story, so no. He won’t remember this. Or at least, not most of this,” Tap said. Isaac shrugged again, seemingly accepting of this fact. 

“Considering he doesn’t remember a lot of technical stuff…Probably not much. Though I wasn’t expecting him to remember any of this.” Aura hummed. “What’s the average life expectancy of an angel?”

“Average?” Isaac repeated. “A couple hundred years. Grandmama is getting famous for her age though. She’s pushing six hundred now.” He frowned. “And I remember the important things that pertain to my job.” 

“Yes, yes, you are a wonderful guardian and a great brother.” Tap’s hand went and patted his head. He swatted at it, but his hand just went through. The ghost chuckled and the hand disappeared. 

“Is your grandmother the oldest living angel?”

Isaac refocused on the cactus. “If you don’t bring in the cosmics, yes, she is.” 

“Cosmic angels are that different from archangels?”

“Yes, we archangels focus on earth and the matters here. The cosmic angels are more focused on things outside of our world, the universe and so on. And time out there gets a little wacky.” Isaac chuckled. “None of us other angels really know how old some of the cosmic angels are, and we don’t interact with them much. The most we interact with are usually the dominions, and they are a strange bunch.” 

Aura grinned. “You think there could be a cosmic angel old enough to remember the war?”

“Oh, there is no doubt. Also, the beginning of this world, this galaxy, and so on. But getting one to answer you and then being able to understand that answer, that is where things get tricky.” Isaac frowned. “They don’t really consider such ‘temporary things’ as people. So things like war and culture are completely over their heads. They are more interested in the planets, the motion of galaxies, the next supernova or black hole.” Isaac rolled his eyes. “Like I said, a weird bunch. They care about the ‘lives of the planets’ or something like that.” 

“They seem a bit…detached.” The cactus grimaced. “Or at the very least very…job oriented. Hobby oriented. Eh.”

Isaac chuckled. “Mother told us that it’s thanks to them we don’t have killer asteroids causing an end of the world situation. But they are hardly in the Upper, most aren’t even on the planet, so they hardly see anything that goes on here.”  

“But they’re born in the Upper, right? Or do they live and congregate on the moon or something?” 

“I don’t know where they are really,” Isaac admitted with a shrug. “I’ve never seen all nine choirs. They could be on the moon or Saturn. Who knows? They have been more people--beings?--that we hear about in lessons than any we’ve seen ourselves. We just trust they’ll do their jobs the way they trust us to do ours.”

Aura tapped her chin. “Hmm I see. I know we’ve already skimmed a bit over the rune topic, but you said your sword was forged from runes, not that the runes were engraved onto the blade. Was that meant literally...?” 

“It’s steel engraven with runes of light and forged in runed fire meant for purification.” Isaac grinned. “Most creatures of darkness can’t stand against it.” 

“Runed fire? You mean fire sparked by runes? And can they not stand against it because it hurts them or they just don’t like the light?”

“I can show you.” Isaac lifted a hand. 

Tap jumped up. “No! Wait Isaac we’re indo--” Mercowe ducked for cover. A golden symbol appeared in his hand, and a flame sparked to life above it. “Isaac!” A moment later, the fire alarm sounded and sprinklers turned on. 

“Oh no,” Isaac muttered and put out the flames, looking up at the falling water. 

Tap groaned, water falling through and hitting the chair. “You’re as bad as your sister.” 

“I am so sorry.” Isaac winced apologetically, hair and clothes wet. 

Mercowe peeked out from underneath the couch. “That didn’t go as bad as I thought it would,” she said with relief.

Aura laughed, arms outstretched as she spun around. “Indoor rain isn’t so bad. Though...” She turned to Tap. “I wouldn’t wanna pay that furniture bill for all the cushions.” She gestured to the audience. Tap groaned. 

Mercowe looked at Tap. “Blow dryer?”

“What are you? A Warner?” Tap grumbled. The water shut off, and Mic appeared with arms full of towels. “Thank you, Mic. You’re a lifesaver.” 

“We could always call them. I’m sure Dot would be happy to help,” Mercowe replied.

“Yeah, help really burn this place down. They still have a grudge against me for taking Wakko’s talent like that,” the ghost muttered as she dried the chair and coffee table. 

Aura raised a brow, looking to Mercowe. “How can she hold towels but go through everything else?”

“Selective ghosting,” Mercowe said with a sigh. “It’s like selective hearing but worse.”

“So if the place does burn down, she can actively deny it, huh?” 

Mercowe turned and raised a questioning brow at Tap, crawling out from under the couch. “Would you?” 

“Of course I would!” Tap tossed the damp towel off stage. 

The owl-cat’s wings fluttered. “Why did I even ask?” She shook her head. 

“Anyway!” Aura clapped her hands together. “So what’s the difference between the Upper and the Sanctuary? How common is it for angels to return without completing an act of charity? Are they shunned?”

Isaac finished drying his hair and put the towel over his shoulders. “Well, the difference is in the level of runes and defenses. They are both protected by angel runes, but the Sanctuary is only open to angels unless one is invited in.” Isaac smiled. “And there’s no shunning involved, maybe some teasing. But it’s not uncommon for an angel to take a couple of years to figure out their act of charity. Some come and go repeatedly before getting them. It is rare for an angel to never get them, but even then, they are treated with love. It’s difficult for them, because there are simply some jobs that require wings.” 

“So even non-angels can get into the Sanctuary if they’re invited? Would there ever be a case of a demon being invited?”

“Only for judgment,” Isaac said. “And that’s only been a handful of times. In those cases, it’s a demon that agreed to the terms of the treaty and is on the Surface under our laws and limitations. If they break those laws, it’s our responsibility to pass judgment on them.” Isaac smirked. “And you can imagine the consequences are harsh. Though I suppose a demon could be invited for other reasons, though there hasn’t been one to my understanding.” 

“There ever been a case of a demon who was on the Surface without obeying the laws of the treaty?”

“Always.” Isaac gave her a cheeky smile. “Those are the demons we fight, hunt, and slay. It’s been happening ever since they were cast down.” Isaac shrugged. Tap turned away and grimaced. 

“How can you tell if a demon has broken the treaty? Do you only find out later when they do some harm, or...?”

“No, their name is bound by magic to a list. They get three penalties before the name on the list turns red. Once that happens, the warriors are sent out to capture the demon and bring them here. But if a penalty does happen, usually a messenger angel is sent to investigate the reason behind the penalty.” Isaac waved a hand. “That’s why a demon has to register and meet with one of the angel judges before they are allowed on the Surface.” 

“Is every demon’s name bound to a list or just the ones who go through the legal routes to be allowed onto the surface? Like all three strikes go off if they don’t bother to go through the process or something?”

“Oh no, only the ones that take the legal steps and register are listed. Any demon that is found and isn’t registered is considered rogue and is killed,” Isaac explained simply. 

“They’re usually found only when they start causing trouble though, right?” Aura tilted her head. “And not all angels are aware of who is and isn’t on the list of ‘allowed’ demons, I’m assuming?”

“Usually yes, but once in a while someone will come across one at random. And those that register have a magic marker on them. Any angel would be able to tell instantly if the demon was rogue or not at a glance.” Isaac relaxed against the couch. It made a small squashy sound at his movement, still hinting at how wet it was. 

“Hmmm..” Aura tapped her fingers together. “What are the guidelines demons have to abide by when on the Surface?”

“There are many, but the ones that most people worry about are souls.” Isaac sighed. “They aren’t allowed to devour souls on the Surface, not even those they are contracted with, but that doesn’t stop them from taking those to hell. They can not kill outside of their territories, they can not kidnap someone and force them into their territory, and they can’t force a contract with anyone. Those are the main laws. There are dozens of others, but those are the pillars that the council agreed to.” Isaac grew thoughtful. “There’s also a divide between what their king punishes and what we punish when they are on the Surface, but we don’t need to get into all those details. It gets complicated quickly.” Isaac chuckled. 

“The white egret flower is used for remedies among angels and toons alike, but it’s poisonous for demons. Is there an equivalent that’s poisonous to angels or anything in general that would help a dark creature but harm a light one?”

“I am not sure of a plant, but there is a stone,” Isaac said grimly. “Obsidian, aged a thousand years in the darkest corners of a volcano. It can corrupt light magic and seriously weaken a creature of light or strengthen a creature of darkness. They are very rare though.” 

“Is it possible to fix someone’s magic when it’s corrupted by the stone like that? Does it hurt or is it just a draining of energy?”

“It would feel like getting horribly sick, draining and nauseous. If an angel stays in that state they could very well die.” Isaac smiled. “Luckily, we do have a way of curing such magic corruption. You see, in the Upper we have the stream of healing. It helps those with pain and simple ailments,” Isaac said excitedly. “But the source is in the Sanctuary, the healing water pours from the Cup of Life. It can cure corrupt magic, broken bodies, and so on. It’s saved many from the brink of death. Though it doesn’t cure everything, it is a great blessing to the Upper and an visitors.” Isaac sighed. “Sadly, a lot of its cure for physical sickness only seems temporary, but someday, we hope to figure out a more permanent solution.” 

Aura frowned. “What if they can’t get to the Upper for the cure?”

“Then hopefully they can find a way. The Cup can’t leave the Sanctuary. Otherwise, they most likely won’t make it,” Isaac said. “Such things have happened before.” 

“The Cup…Hehe, that’ll be fun to read.” Aura hopped up. “It was mentioned with Alice that she’s the ‘angel of healing,’ but her ‘healing’ doesn’t seem to work properly. Why is that? Is it her talent?”

Isaac blinked and grimaced. “Oh man, she really hasn’t said much, huh?” He gave the ghost a distressed look. Tap shrugged. Isaac turned back to Aura. “Look, she’s a bit sensitive about that. Her supposedly being the next archangel of healing...but with her, uh, drawbacks and such.” His wings fluttered nervously. “Look, I love my sister, and I don’t feel right talking about her...shortcomings. I’m sure she’ll figure it out and come back with her wings in no time. Alice is clever and daring. She’ll pull through.” Isaac nodded seemingly to himself more than anyone. 

“You’re really worried about her, aren’t you Izzy?” Tap asked with a chuckle. 

Isaac frowned and shifted in his seat. One of his wings nearly bumped Mercowe. She ducked. “Well, yeah. I mean, working for Hat? A demon! With fallen! What in the world has she been doing!” He sighed, long-suffering and seemingly aged in front of them. “I’m sure her time on the Surface is going to legendary with all the chaos she can get into. But as long as she comes back in one piece, I can deal with the rest.” 

“Poor Izzy,” Tap cooed. “You wanna go in and save her but you can’t.” Isaac scoffed and tossed a pillow at her. The pillow hit her in the face before falling through. “Ow!”  Mercowe snickered. 

“Selective ghosting only works, it seems, when Taps aware about it...” Aura hummed. “Well.” Her shoulders drooped. “I’ll respect your decision, Issac. Though…” She looked to him. “Alice was only working for Hat because he had stolen her halo.”

“He  _ what!”   _ Isaac demanded. 

“Oh no.” Tap sighed.

“Yeah, that’s why the fallen angels were working there too.” The cactus tilted her head. “She got it back though, but someone had to help her get it, and it was even against her best wishes on the matter.” Aura shook her head. “It was being used as a stagelight.”

“What!” Isaac jumped up. “That snake! How dare he do such a thing! I shall not standby and let this go unpunished! Hat will taste the fires of justice for his actions against my sister!” 

Tap dropped her head in her hands. “Oh no, Hat run,” she grumbled sarcastically. Isaac reached for his sword. It disappeared before he could grab it. Isaac growled and turned to the ghost. Tap had it in her floating claws. “Isaac, sit back down and behave! I’m not letting you do anything to Hat! Listen to Aura! She said it was already taken care of! Stars! You and your selective hearing!” she snapped. 

“But a  _ stagelight!”   _ Isaac protested. “And he is registered! He should know better than--”

“Dealt with. Now sit.” Tap set the sword behind her chair. “Or you won’t get this back.” Isaac glared at her before sitting back down, arms crossed. Tap sighed. “You said she can take care of herself. Just leave it. Alice is a big girl.” Tap turned to Aura. “Sorry about that. His protective big brother instinct is strong.” Isaac grumbled but didn’t protest. 

“It’s ok.” Aura was giggling. “Alice’s got a good brother.” She smiled. “And Alice is fine now that she has her halo… Eveeenn if Hat needs angel magic, but anyway.” She waved the thought off. “Would you be surprised to know another demon helped her find it?”

Isaac blinked. “A demon? What did it want from her? An enemy of Hat, perhaps?” He lifted a hand to his chin. Tap gulped. “And what about angel magic?” 

“Leave the magic,” Tap warned. The two were back at glaring at each other. 

“The better question at this point is whether angels have ghost banishing magic,” Mercowe commented. 

Aura winked at Tap before looking back to Isaac. “It was a demon that had come into the casino from time to time for a drink. She almost banished him on the spot, but the reason he helped her wasn’t for anything in return. In fact, he owes her--She’s the reason he’s been able to keep up with the quest he’s on and the reason why Hat’s death curse didn’t kill him after he got her halo back.”

Isaac’s face fell. Everyone could practically see the hamster in his head tripping and spinning in its wheel before falling out, too dizzy to move. “What?” he finally asked. Tap covered her face, but she shook with suppressed laughter. 

“He’s a nice demon.” Tap managed to say. Isaac seemed to only grow more confused. 

Aura frowned. “You said you’ve seen for yourself that demons have an amount of humanity in them.”

“Well...yes, but I’ve never heard of a demon doing something for free,” Isaac said slowly. “And standing up to a powerful demon like Black Hat is no small feat.  _ Surely  _ this demon asked for  _ something  _ after such an act?” 

“When he woke up after the Blue Fairy healed his injuries, he asked to talk to her. He thanked her and only asked that she was honest when she needed help next time.”

_ “Next time?”   _ Isaac looked baffled between the three sitting around him. “Are we sure this is a demon?” Mercowe couldn’t help but laugh.

“What if I told you he’d never seen another demon in his life up to that point? That not even other demons were aware of his existence up on the Surface?” Aura hopped off the chair.

“He’s never...and on the Surface?” Isaac raised a brow. “I will have to meet this demon. This sounds most odd. But if he is on the Surface, then he must be…” Isaac turned disapproving eyes on the ghost. 

Tap raised her claws placatingly. “You’ll meet him. And sure, he ain’t registered, but he’s a great guy! That should count for something, right?” She chuckled. 

Isaac crossed his arms again. “You’re just lucky I won’t remember. If I did, it’d be my duty to find him and either banish him or slay him.” 

“Such a killjoy,” Tap muttered. 

“Good thing there isn’t a ghost of a chance of you remembering.” Mercowe smiled at Isaac.

“Honestly? I’m waiting for it to be in a cliffhanger.” Aura shrugged but walked over to Isaac. “But even if you don’t remember too much about him, there’s one last thing I want to ask you. You said earlier that you would ‘defend those that were trying to do the right thing,’ that that was what you had realized from your act of charity, right?”

Isaac raised a curious brow. “Yes?”

“Even if they were a demon?”

Isaac considered the cactus girl for a long moment. He smiled. “Even if they were a demon.” He then turned a pointed look at the ghost. “You are weaving a dangerous web. Be considerate of these readers and us characters.” 

Tap chuckled impishly. “Oh, I know it. Don’t worry, I’m still pulling for a good ending. We all will have to hope the plot agrees with me.” Isaac nodded. Tap sighed. “Well, that’s all the time we have ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, Isaac, for answering as honestly as you could.” Tap nodded. 

“Can I have my sword back?” Isaac asked. Tap rolled her eyes and waved a hand. The sword was back in his hand. 

“Thank you for editing and dealing with all of us Mercowe.” Tap nodded to the owl-cat.   

She smiled. “It’s been fun. I think Aura chose a very interesting person to interview. I learned a ton I didn’t know.” She turned to the cactus. “I’d give you a hug, but I already have a pin cushion,” she joked.

“Haha!” Aura laughed. “It’s the thought that counts. I’m glad I got to talk to Isaac--Hat would probably have lied half the time anyway. It’s been fun!” She smiled at everyone. “Even if the Warners never showed up.”

“Heaven help us the day they do.” Tap shuddered. “It’s only a matter of time.” She shook off the fear. “But really, thank you Aura Creed. It’s been a wonderful time to talk to you. And I can hug you! Spikes can’t hurt me!” Tap chuckled. “Thank you sssooo much for the support and fun! I hope the future brings more great times for all of us.” Tap floated up and hugged the cactus. 

The spector then turned to the audience. “Thank you for coming! See you all next time and good night!” The curtains closed and the lights turned on. The first interview was over. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And if you are curious about how Aura got in to talk to us go check out this post on [the Ink Mystery tumblr!](https://theinkymystery.tumblr.com/post/182327867761/patreon) The answer is over there. Who knows! You could have your interview with your character of choice too! XD Thanks for reading! Have a great day!


	76. Snowball's Day Out (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So, since I hadn't been able to work on Holly's Journal all this time, I ended up getting inspired to write this instead. XD Seeing through Snowball's eyes has been very inspiring for me. Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

It was midnight.

Snowball’s eyes popped open like a pair of springtime buds on a cherry tree. Snowball raised her head slowly and looked around the room. She was nestled just above and to the left of Alpha’s head. His head fur was a mess, his face relaxed, and his nose did a little whistle like Holly's kettle when he exhaled. His nest leaves were to his chin in the morning chill.

Snowball stood up on her hind legs and paused, eyeing the messy head fur. She leaned down, using her tiny paws to balance, and buried her paws and snout into it, rubbing her face. His head fur felt so nice. The tiny little spines on her skin righted themselves as she touched his head fur, strengthening. The tips spread like the sun had hit them.

She gave a satisfied chitter, pulling back. Now, she had to go get them their soul trees. Bouncing to the floor, she skidded and hit the door jamb with a soft squeak. She froze, tiny eyes darting to the sleeping figures. Alpha shifted a little under his nest leaves, the whistle stopping for half a second, but then he rolled on his side and it continued. After a moment, she scurried under the door.

It was dark in tunnel of the large people’s burrow, which made the small creature stop for a moment, nose twitching, paws lifted as she planned her path. Her eyes darted to a fire holder fixed to the wall, a four legged tree down the tunnel, and then the corner where a plant-holder stood.

This done, Snowball puffed up her chest and hopped, flying into the air at an angle. Her launch had been wobbly, so instead of being able to grasp the edge of the fire holder’s hard edge, Snowball glanced off the smooth sun stone and went reeling over to the other side of the tunnel, bouncing haphazardly back and forth until she finally drifted to the ground. She let out a grunt of annoyance, straightened her bristles, and scurried the last foot or two to the plant holder.

The two soul trees were exactly where she had left them last night when the big people had started to wake, squished into the corner behind the wall and plant holder. Squishing behind it herself, she wriggled into the crevice and tugged on the edge of one of them with her little paws, careful not to pull too hard so it wouldn't tear.

The soul tree unrolled a bit as she dragged it out from the hiding spot and then rolled back closed, causing her to lose balance and stumble back a bit with a chitter.

She made a proud meep and ran around it, using her paws to roll the large thing back towards Alpha and Beta’s burrow. When she reached the moving tree, she stopped and ran around to the side of the soul tree, pushing it under the moving tree from one end.

Half way through it stopped. Meeping softly with confusion, Snowball stopped as well, tilting her head. It was stuck.

She quickly scampered back to plant holder and dragged out the second soul tree. This one got caught on the side of the plants holder's smooth stone outer shell. Snowball continued to tug. The soul tree unrolled and unrolled and--

Wham.

It yanked out from the plant holder suddenly, quickly rolling back up…and taking Snowball with it. The small rodent squeaked in distress from the middle of the soul tree’s rolled up clutches. Snowball and the soul tree rolled halfway to the entrance to Alpha’s burrow. Snowball made a sick noise as her world twirled.

Finally it stopped.

Shifting, Snowball started to wriggle her way out. It took a minute, but she popped out of the middle of the soul tree like it was one of her own burrow tunnels.

Grunting, she dragged this one and shoved it under the moving tree next to the other one.

Then she stopped for a moment, looking at the pair of soul trees that were half-way stuffed underneath the moving tree.

They were stuck.

Snowball gave a sigh of exasperation. Why did the moving door always close when she wanted to leave and open when she was exploring something especially nice smelling? She stared at the moving tree hard, willing it to open. She gave a loud ‘meep’! The moving tree ignored her. Snowball looked down and grumbled. Someday she would figure out how Holly and the other giants made them move. She eyed the opening again, imagining the two soul trees were overly large walnuts. Then, hunching her tiny little shoulders, she scurried backwards to the other side of the wall. She pawed at the ground, eyeing the door from the other end. Then she charged.

Pop!

The soul trees popped through underneath the moving tree so fast that they flew out across the fake grass and skidded underneath Beta’s nest at the far end of the burrow. Snowball popped out right after them, flying across the ground, and thumped into one leg of Alpha’s nest, causing it to shake lightly.

Snowball whimpered and slid down the side of the nest leg. Her bristles were all messed up now. Glancing to make sure the soul trees were still where they’d flown, Snowball licked her paws and started to brush herself down, untangling the bristles so she could fly properly and fluffing up the ends.

She had just about made herself satisfied when a cold, black feeling seeped into the room. Snowball’s head jerked up as she froze.

It was the death magic. The death magic that had swallowed Holly’s soul. She started to shiver as the temperature in her small body lowered. It felt like the eyes of a predator.

It was coming closer.

Snowball bounced, flying up and hitting the ceiling and bouncing down onto Alpha’s face. He jerked spluttering and Snowball tapped him desperately with her little paw, letting out a loud ‘MEEP’ into his face.  

“Wha-what in the seven levels of hell?” Alpha growled. He half sat up on one of his limbs. “Puff, what are you doi--” A burst of the magic formed above Alpha’s head mid-growl, engulfing him and twisting his soul. It reached out and did the same to Beta, who had just started to roll over. Snowball squeaked in panic as she felt the Death Holly get closer, the hunger radiating from it sending her racing to hide underneath Alpha’s outer fur and into one of his pouches.

The door creaked open and Snowball started to shiver harder. “Hello~?” Snowball heard the lovely voice of her mother and hunched further into the pouch, feeling once again the strange echo of death on Holly’s every breath.

There was a whoosh of air as the moving tree closed behind Snowball’s mother, her giantess feet making no noise on the fake grass.

There was another burst of death magic. Then Snowball’s world shifted. She nearly slid out of the pouch, but barely managed to catch a bit of fur as Alpha seemed to float into the air. But Alpha couldn’t float? Holly had said only Snowball could fly! Too scared to explore why what little knowledge of the world she had was wrong, Snowball clung harder to the inside of Alpha’s pouch.

She heard the sound of the moving tree opening and closing again twice and suddenly the world was icy and cold. Just barely daring to see what was going on, she climbed up the inside of Alpha’s fur, still clinging to it hard with every movement. Her nose peeked outside the side edge.

She saw the black river that divided the burrows, grass, bushes and...It was the Light Lady! Snowball squirmed to climb from Alpha’s outer fur and get the Light Lady but another wave of death magic washes over her, making Snowball’s tiny head spin. She lost her grip and slid back into Alpha’s pouch, feeling her tiny dandelion tufts start to fluff out as the magic in the air was drawn to them.

Her eyes swirled for a minute. By the time it stopped, the smell of the ocean had filled the air. Knowing she couldn’t stay inside his pouch forever with the hunger coming from the Death Holly, Snowball inched out until the tip of her nose was a the edge of Alpha’s outer fur. She saw the big blue water, but the next second her Alpha boat floated into a strange little burrow sitting right on the edge of the water. Snowball had barely a second to wonder who would be crazy enough to build a burrow right next to the ocean just as the moving tree opened and they whooshed inside. It closed behind them again with an ominous thud.

…’meep.’ Snowball made the tiniest of squeaks. She saw Beta floating a couple feet away. Then. He dropped.

Snowball let out a loud squeak and jumped for him as he hit the water, sinking rapidly.

“Ah, there you are.” Snowball had to stop suddenly and dodge, scrambling up Alpha’s coat as the Death Holly reached for her. A frigid wave of magic twisted through her plant fur, and she started to float, mid air. Snowball squirmed, hating the feeling of the magic on her.

“Meep! Meep! Meep!” Snowball swam in the air, but still ended up going backwards. Holly’s cold fingers curled around Snow. The next second Alpha dropped into the water. Snowball squirmed, watching the bubbles dissipate. That couldn't be good. Could Alpha and Beta breathe like fishes?

Holly’s grip tightened, and Snowball’s magic sensitive skin hurt. She let out a mew.

Whap!

The moving tree swung open, and the Light Lady stumbled in, her eyes wide with confusion. The bad Holly turned, frowning.   

The Light Lady was there, big eyes wide, her head fur a mess like a young nestling’s. Bad Holly’s grip tightened, and Snowball squirmed in pain again. She did not appreciate the grip. “What are you doing here?” Holly hissed.

The Light Lady gulped. “Uuuh, Y-you forgot to make your bed…”

Holly blinked. She clapped the fist with Snowball in it into her other hand. Snowball let out a ‘meep’ of surprise with the motion. She glared at her soul twisted mother. “I knew I forgot something important...or not.” She gave a humorless laugh that sent people-bumps across Snowball’s skin. Her eyes narrowed darkly at Alice. “C’mon Alice. Be serious for once.”

Light Lady shook her head. “I-I mean--what are you doing, Holly!”

Holly laughed, her black eyes wide. “I’m getting rid of our problems, Alice. You should be able to figure that out yourself.”

“Getting rid of? What problems?” Light Lady blinked. She looked around, her soft dark eyes filled with the concern a new nest mother would have for her young.

Holly’s hand dropped as she smirked. Snowball squeaked with the sudden motion. She was starting to get sick. The rodent let out an uneasy burp of nausea. “The assassins, dummy. Don’t worry though, I’m already done.”

Light Ladies muzzle fell open. Snowball let out a sniff, wriggling. She was so sick. “Holly, why? And why are you hurting Snowball?”

Holly narrowed one eye at Alice. “Are you thick? Not only have those two tried to kill Bendy and Boris before, but just a few days ago they murdered the Sykes.” She tilted her head. “I’m doing everyone a favor. So be nice, and shut up about this.”

Snowball had just had about enough of the chilly words and poor Light Lady’s hurt expression. With the determination that only a small rodent could possess, Snowball sunk her teeth into her mother’s hand.

Holly gasped--and didn’t let go. “Little brat.” She glared at Snowball. “I’ve had enough of your mouth.” Holly waved a hand, and a gold rune appeared. Uh-Oh. Snowball felt icy energy cover her. She paddled her paws in the air. That was _cold!_   She was being pulled towards the rune.

“Holly stop!” Light Lady lifted a hand. Another rune appeared. Snowball felt the warmth of the magic reach for her, fighting the cold emptiness of Holly’s magic. Light Lady flicked her wrist, pulling Snowball toward her with her magic. Snowball relaxed for a half second as the warm magic moved her. Then, like a fish caught on two lines, she twanged to a stop in the middle between the two females, her soul being yanked in opposite directions.

Snowball flailed. As each of the girls fought, Snowball was jerked back and forth. Snowball squeaked, feeling like a doll she’s seen two girls fighting over. She wasn’t a toy!

Unexpectedly, the magic from both of them snapped. Snowball went flying towards the Light Lady, missed her, and soared towards a square touchable air in the middle of one of the burrow walls. Snowball winced as she prepared to hit it. The next second she whooshed through. 

Huh?

Snowball smelled fish and a whiff of wet cat and mouse before a sea breeze rocketed her high in the air. Snowball watched with worry as the little burrow below her grew small and the other taller burrows in the distance became visible.

Snowball spread her four little legs, trying desperately to direct herself like a squirrel she’d seen. It didn't seem to work. Then another strong whoosh of air sent her towards the city, away from Light Lady, Alpha, Beta and bad Holly.

Each gush of wind blew her farther and farther until she finally landed in a bush next to one of the hard, black rivers.

Umph!

Snowball broke a branch and ended up tangled in between a large branch and a rather annoyed snail that was in the middle of expanding its jaw to engulf an entire strawberry. It blinked and its eye stalk bobbed, telling Snowball not to judge because strawberries were delicious.

Snowball didn’t wait for the snail to finish its bobbing lecture. She needed to get back to where the Light Lady was. She scampered out of the bush, leaves stuck to her everywhere as she ran out onto one of the stone tiles that lined either side of the black river.

She glanced around.

Where was she?

She sniffed around. No Alpha, no Light Lady, no Holly. Snowball gave an exasperated sigh. She bounced up into the air to get a better view of the area. Bad idea.

Whoosh!

The moment her feet left the ground, the wind stole her again. She was sucked down the street, not even reaching very high as she rolled end over end.

“Meep!”

Smack! Snowball was sucked around a corner and hit the back wall of an alley. She slid down the wall and landed grumpily on her feet. At least it smelled like flowers nearby.  

“Mreow?” Snowball blinked and all her little tufts stood on end as a shadow turned the corner of the alley. A young black and white kitten rounded the corner, eyes searching. He tilted his head. “Mreow?” he said, asking who had invaded his alley.

Snowball’s hackles raised and she gave the cat a warning ‘Meep,’ letting the cat know she wanted space. 

The kitten ignored her warning, walked forward, a curious look on his face. He tilted his head. Food?

“Meeeeeeep!” That was not the answer she wanted. Snowball back up, unfortunately into a corner.

The kitten moved closer and then stuck his face into Snowball’s side, nudging her as he sniffed, asking whether she was food a second time. Snowball stumbled. The kitten meowed again, asking Snowball what she was.

Snowball gave the cat another warning meep, making it extra sharp so the kitten would know this was the last one she would give. The cat ignored her and stuck his face and whiskers through Snowball’s tufts.

Snowball turned and gave the cat's ear a good nipp. He jumped back, yipping in surprise.

“Figaro?” a female voice called from the front of the alley.

The cat got a guilty look, hunching her shoulders and looking back. She mewed. Miss wouldn’t be happy she was back here.

Snowball looked at the shadow moving closer. She sighed and waddled over to the kitten, snuggling up to her just as the shadow appeared.

“Fi--Oh? Now what is this? You’re both so cute!” A mouse giant with a bow on one of her ears walked into the alley and smiled at the two of them. It was the mouse Holly had visited before. She leaned down to pick the two of them. Snowball gave the mouse her cutest smile and snuggled into her hand. Take me back to Holly, she mentally commanded.

The cat looked at Snowball, suspicion in his expression. She mewed, struggling in the mouse’s other hand, trying to bat a paw at Snowball. He was still mad she had nipped his ear. “Oh no. No Figaro. She’s a friend. Come on, let’s bring you back to the shop.” She carried the two of them back out of the alley and into a little burrow filled with strong smelling plants. She placed Snowball on a strange wide four legged tree. She put the cat on her shoulder. Tilting her head, the mouse looked at Snowball. She tapped the surface. “Now, where have I seen you before, dear?” Her fingers searched around Snowball’s neck and the dandehog squeaked as it tickled. The mouse smiled. “You don’t have a collar. But I know I saw you with someone before.”

Snowball wandered over to an old flyer of the cat that happened to be on the table. She sat on the top of it, waiting patiently. It took a second, but the mouse’s eyes widened. “That’s right! You were with one of those people from Dr. Oddswell’s house.” She tapped Snowball’s nose. “Well, they’ll be worried about you, won’t they?” Figaro gave Snowball a jealous glare. Snowball gave the cat a cheesy smile. A low growl came from the cat’s throat.

The mouse picked Snowball up, giggling at Figaro and petting him. “Oh Fig, don’t worry. You’re my number one.” She turned to the dandehog. “Let’s get you back home.”  

She turned away, going to the back room. Instantly, Snowball and the cat’s eyes snapped towards each other.

The cat mewed. You live with the great man! Great man is the best! You even _smell_ like the great man! I want to live with the great man! No fair!

Snowball let out a confused squeak. Who’s the great man?

The cat flicked his tail, annoyed. The great man! The one with the soft blanket thing with sleep pouches!

Snowball tilted his head. Soft blanket thing? Sleep pouches?

Snowball thought a moment. Alpha had pouches.

Alpha? She squeaked, a little paw coming up as she sat on her hind legs and blinked at the cat.   

Figaro twitched his whiskers into a sneer. He’s _not_ a dog. Figaro puffed a little. He is above that, even on my level.

Snowball’s eyes widened with curiosity. Your level? There were so many things she didn’t know, like why some air was touchable, why the moving trees only obeyed the giants, and what the odd smell was that came from Alpha and Beta’s heads was. She scampered a little closer and gave a soft meep. What’s that?

Figaro blinked and tilted his head at the dandehog. Why, a god of course. Something that the people worship and do anything for.

Snowball fell over with a thud and glared at the cat. Even _she_ knew that was a lie. She squeaked her unbelief.

The cat huffed, his ears falling back. I don’t people-talk and trying to get Miss to understand that you had the great man scent was too much effort. I just wanted to know. Miss does what she wants. It’s not my fault she can’t understand the important things! She can’t even hunt right!

Snowball sat down, resting her head on her paws. She gave a soft chitter. It was hard to get any of the giants to see sense sometimes. They were always doing dangerous things like yanking suspicious smelling magic from objects that were obviously trouble.

Then, do you know if Alpha can fish-breath? she asked the cat. She hoped that he and Beta were all right. Could they talk to the fish?

Figaro started cleaning his ears with his tongue and paws. Ocean? No. They don’t like water, they are like me. They like to be dry. Fish are food, they don’t talk!

Snowball made a nervous noise. Then she took a deep breath and puffed out her chest. Alpha and Beta were Alpha and Beta. They would be fine.

Holly says that we don’t talk, Snowball chittered back.

People-talk is different! They aren’t food. Just not smart.

Snowball felt a bit bad. She shrugged. You really think? I thought they just...tend to do stupid things? She thought of the lecture she’d given Holly when she’d touched that demon wheel. Then the warning she’d tried to give Little Dark, Nice Beast, and mother when mother had been pushing magic into the flattened tree curl that Little Dark and Nice Beast carried.

Just then, the nice mouse lady came back in and picked up them both. “C’mon, you two. Let’s get your friend back home, Figaro.”

She slipped them both into one of her large coat pockets. The cat ended up squished next to Snowball. He glared at Snowball.

This is my pouch, he mewed. Miss is mine! Get out! Figaro pushed a paw into her. Snowball sent a bit of the magic she had collected in her little tufts at the cat. The feline’s hair instantly puffed up like a pom-pom. Figaro let out a yowl for rage and hissed. Snowball scampered from the coat pocket as the cat chased her, climbing up the mouse’s coat and onto her shoulder to escape the pursuit of the kitten.

“Oh,” she said in surprise. Figaro disappeared back into her pocket. “Figaro, you really should be nicer,” she scolded the cat.

Figaro let out a angry grumble.

Snowball stayed on her shoulder the rest of the trip, which was quick. They arrived just in time for Snowball to see Alpha and Beta walk down the black river with Nice Cat. Snowball gave a squeak of relief. Where was mother?

The nice mouse went up to the door and knocked. There were lots of noises inside and then Big Ears opened the door. He blinked at Figaro’s Miss. Snowball meeped at him. The fox’s eyes went to her, and she jumped, catching his ear as she floated down.  

“Snowball! Where have you been!” Big Ears said. He turned to Figaro’s Miss. “Thank you ma’am. Ho...We’ve been worried about her.”

Snowball scurried on his head and dropped onto his shoulder. Mother’s soul was being twisted. Maybe the other giants had finally noticed? She gave a soft squeak, demanding for Big Ears to tell her whether they had fixed Holly. He lifted a hand to pet her head gently.

She remembered Alpha and Beta. Had they talked to the fish. Had they told them Holly was sick? That had to be it! She squeaked at Big Ears and Figaro’s Miss happily. That cat probably just didn’t know fish could talk.

“It’s no trouble. She helped me with finding Figaro, after all! I’m just returning the favor,” Figaro’s Miss said with a smile. Big Ears thanked her again and closed the door. He turned back inside, and Snowball launched herself at the stairs.

“You stick around, Snowball. The guys are gonna be back with Holly soon. I’m sure this mess will get sorted,” Big Ears said.

Snowball gave him a understanding meep and scampered up the stairs. They were going to fix mother. She squeaked cheerfully and squished herself underneath Alpha and Beta’s moving tree. All she had to do was wait here and everything would be better soon. She could sneak their soul trees back into Alpha’s pouch tonight, and then everything would be back to normal.  

With that, she scampered underneath Beta’s bed, settling on top of one of the two soul trees. She would sleep. Then, things would be good again. With that, she gave a small chitter, moved about a bit, and settled down to sleep.

* * *

Snowball woke as the ground started to shift. It was moving up...up… Snowball squeaked as she rolled forward, head over feet. The burrow was slowly turning _on its side_! She smacked against the moving tree of the fur holder. One of the soul trees landed on her. She barely managed to dodge the other. To Snowball’s horror, the room started to shift again and suddenly, the square of touchable air was beneath her. Both her and the soul trees rolled downward. Alpha and Beta’s nests slid own as well, Alpha’s landing on Beta’s with a crunch. Snowball’s tiny feet hit the square of solid air. Both of the soul trees landed next to her. She blinked, staring at them and then at the quickly receding ground underneath her.

This was bad. She didn’t trust the weird air. It was touchable and then untouchable, touchable and then untouchable. If she fell, she’d be fine, but instinctively she knew the soul trees could get Alpha and Beta hurt if anything happened to them. She bit the edge of one, dragging it to the ledge of the window. Grunting, she barely managed to pull it up. Then, she nudged it with her nose, rolling it underneath the pile of Alpha and Beta’s nests.

She had just turned back to get the other one when she heard a creak. The wood that surrounding the touchable air started to angle outwards. Snowball stared at it in confusion.

Then, the other soul tree started to roll and slope downward. It fell.

Snowball blinked.

“Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!” The small creature dived for it. To her utter surprise, she went straight through. 

Then, she was falling.

But not fast enough. The roll of enchanted wood quickly became a speck beneath her as she floated gently down in the bright mid-morning air. Snowball meeped again and desperately tried to swim downward.

A burst of gold lit the sky. In the distance Snowball saw dark clouds form. The wind picked up, and suddenly she was spinning violently through the air. A bird squawked in surprise as she was carried by. She meeped an apology right before a different air current pressed her down, shooting her up the street below.

She saw a tall, stone fire tree coming at her. Just as she was about to blow by, her front paws caught ahold of it. She held on desperately as the wind continued to blow. Then, with determination, she latched her hind paws on it too and started to make her way down to the ground.

It was dark by the time she got to the grass. The clouds had moved in, completely blocking the sun. The critter scampered through the bushes, searching desperately for the soul tree. She felt a glow of energy and immediately rushed towards it. She hurried through the bush and down the road. A pig man was running down the street. Snowball saw the curl of tree bounce down the road as the land continued to shift upwards. Then, just as Snowball thought it was going to land on the pigman, there was a whoosh and something snatched the pig up. The soul tree landed perfectly between the shoulderblades of a feathery, giant _bird_ as it passed in front of her. Snowball couldn’t help but wonder whether Figaro thought that giant birds could talk too. Then, the giant creature rose quickly in the air, disappearing towards some distant smoke.

Snowball squeaked, expertly bouncing off a fire tree and heading in the same direction. The giant bird, however, was far too fast for her. With each beat of its enormous wings, she sent a wave of air behind her that slowed Snowball’s flighty, bobbing progress.

The rodent squeaked in despair. Alpha and Beta needed that! It had their special scent!

Now that the area had fallen into complete darkness, Snowball could see flashes of gold around her.

In the black sky, dark shapes shifted around her. A burst of gold light appeared next to her, and Snowball’s heart leapt as a long, gangly leg stepped out of the glow. Seven others followed it. The wind stilled with the appearance of the creature’s large body, and Snow hovered right in front of its face. Two little prongs hung in front of the spider’s eight beady eyes. The spider wiggled them, and then reached out one of its smaller more flexible legs towards the flying rodent curiously.

Snowball swam desperately through the air away from the leg. She felt the tip of it prod her, propelling her forward and accidentally sending her careening back into a gust of wind. Like a spring leaf, Snowball tumbled downward again. She almost touched a fire tree that was sticking sideways from one of many hills of burrows and earth that had appeared, but then the wind had picked up again, hurrying her on forwards.

Thankfully, somehow she had been thrown towards the smoke. Her journey quickened. The higher she rose into the air, the harder the wind blew. She blinked as, for a moment, she saw a strange stone beast flying through the air underneath her. Then, a whirlwind sucked her toward the ground.

Snowball blinked as a bone man ran past, chasing a doe and a small fox. Were they playing tag? Snow played tag with mother sometimes. Although, sometimes mother’s words while chasing weren’t happy words. That confused her.

The thought was stolen from Snow’s head as she sighted a nest. The pigman had jumped out of it and was running down the lane, the big eagle right on his heels.

Snowball wondered at all the big people playing tag. Then, she spotted the white flicker of the soul tree resting at one edge of the eagle’s giant nest. The entire thing seemed to be set in the middle of a giant field of burnt plant. The breeze softened a bit, and she managed to settle on top of a large, white egg. Sliding carefully down, she landed on top of the curl of tree soul with a triumphant squeak.

Carefully, she opened her mouth and tried to fit it around the curl. Then, she fought her way up the egg so she could try and take a leap off the edge of the nest. She had just managed to reach the top of the egg when there was a curious crackle.

Crack? Snowball tilted her head. The next moment, the smooth surface beneath her gave way. She and the soul tree plopped into a sea of thick, clear liquid. It was dark and something beside her gave a squawk. Two large eyes opened and stared at her, nose to nose.

This couldn’t be good.

The young eagle lunged for her hungrily, just as Snowball lept for the hole at the top of the egg. This caused the both of them to tumble as the egg rolled on its side. The shell cracked against a sharp stick, and the entire thing opened. Snowball tumbled across the grass and sticks, the soul tree spinning past her and rolling to a stop at the edge of the nest.

Snowball raced over to it, her hackles raising as she turned back to defend the bit of tree from the enemy bird. The thing was the size of Alpha, and it had large, scaly feet. Tilting its head, it looked at Snowball curiously.

Snowball squeaked a warning, hoping it would understand.

It didn’t.

The bird charge her, sending the rodent into a flurry of panic as she grabbed the soul tree and desperately tried to drag it toward the edge.

Instead, the enormous, awkward chick helped them over the edge, hitting Snowball with its head as it tried to open its mouth at her. She and the scroll spiraled through the air, and she landed with a painful thud onto a pile of ashes.

Snowball lay stunned on her back for a moment, filled with confusion. She'd...fallen? Then, she gave a wheeze and flipped over. Her answer became clear as she shook herself. Her bristles were a wet mess from the stinky liquid that had been inside the egg.

Yuck.

She crawled towards the soul tree a few feet away. Somehow, the thing seemed to have the same magical energy coming from it as Alpha and Beta. It made her bristles tingle. She rested there for a moment, exhausted. Then, giving a little sigh, she grabbed it and dragged it towards a bush growing across from the strange square of ash. She had just gotten onto the flat, stone walkway when a foul, rotting smell made her bristles stand straight up again. She abandoned the soul tree, hiding beneath the bush.

Looking out, she saw a human pup lean down and pick the curl up. He had a large, round, sweet smelling food-on-a-stick. As he lifted the soul tree, he licked his food stick. “Wha’s this?”

He was wearing a large white outer fur that had fake bones sewn into it? Two more human pups joined him. One was a female. She wore a pointy head protector with a platform that Snowball thought would be convenient to sit on. The other was a foul-smelling male with a face cover that had horns sticking out from the sides. He took it off, revealing all too pale skin.

The smell increased, and Snowball tensed. She pawed at her nose and moved backwards. The pups smelled strange, like mildew and mold and leaves that had rotted under a bush for too long. “Lemme see!” The demon horned pup jumped on the first and tried to grab the tree soul.

She needed to get it! Snow took a step forward, but then the female snatched the roll of wood from the male. “Ha, bet you couldn’t tell what it is, can you?” She grinned and a wave of cold darkness washed over Snowball. She let out a peep of fear. The female unrolled the soul tree and tilted her head, letting greasy tangled hair pile on one side of her shoulder. “I knew it! This is a soul contract. Who’s stupid enough to leave one of these things lying around.” Her eye swiveled as she looked across it.

How was she supposed to get it? These three smelled wrong. But the female was holding it...Snowball’s beady little eyes looked up at the top of the bush. If she jumped down from there, maybe she could knock it out of the female’s hands? She scurried and leaped up from branch to branch, making the bush shake a little. The bone pup lifted his head. “Wha was that?” He took another long lick off of his food stick. Snowball froze.

“Shut up Barrel,” the female said. Then, she let out a gasp of delight. “You’ll never guess whose this is?!” she squeaked, motioning the males towards her. She had to grab the smallest one, because he was still looking in Snow’s direction. The three of them spoke low, and the girl giggled.

“I know those two are dumb, but I can’t believe they were _this_ dumb!” the devil pup said, pulling out a two pronged stick with a little string strung across it. He aimed it at the female. “Let’s launch it into the bay, or better yet, go find the Warners and feed it to Dot’s pet when she isn’t looking. I’ll bet it’ll give the thing indigestion.”

The female waved her hand. “No! No! Let’s...bring it to Boogie.” There was silence for a moment, and then all three smiled at each other, revealing small pointed teeth.  

“Hey, doesn’t that rat look weird?” The devil pup’s eyes locked on Snowball. 

Snow ran.

A net slammed down behind her and she leapt into the air. An even bigger _whoosh_ of air caught her up instantly, and suddenly, she was getting higher again. “Ah c’mon!” the smelly devil pup cried before he was out of hearing. Snowball squirmed, trying to find something else to bounce off and get back to the ground, but the wind had her firmly in its current. She kept on going up. Snowball meeped. She needed to get the soul tree!

Snowball blew down the road and past the top of a large, open topped burrow. She blinked. Why did the burrow not have a top? The thought flitted out of her head, however, as she started to descend at an alarming rate. Not many bristles had dried off before the smelly pups had appeared. She started to descend at an alarming rate. She was going into the hole!

Just then, something large shot by her, sending her spinning to the side again.

There was a loud shriek as a great cat-bird dove down and back up, talons clapped tightly around a thrashing figure.

“Let go, you giant chicken!” the big person shouted. Snowball blinked. Alpha? The cat-bird flew off, ignoring the angry one in its claws.

She didn’t know that he was friends with bird-cats. She had the stray question about whether bird-cats could talk, since according to Figaro birds were food too. Then the wind died. Snowball plummeted.

“Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!”

Snowball hit an awning, bounced off it to the left, hit a fire tree, landed in a metal tunnel, slid down it, and landed in a puddle of foul smelling water at the bottom. Snowball lay there for a moment, stunned. Then, she curled up into a ball.

Too much smell. To much.

She pressed her paws against her nose.

A shrill whistle ran through the air, making Snowball jump.

“Hey! Glitter bombs! You’re not gonna come save your friend?” Snowball blinked, rolling back onto her feet. The voice was strange and gravely...but the smell. That smelled like Little Dark. The tiniest of the big people.

But that wasn’t what she saw. What she saw was a towering figure of blackness. He dripped with an acidic smelling water and growled. Snowball tilted her head. Little Dark could shrink and grow himself? He was...Big Dark!

Just then, two beautiful, white, glowing horses with horns charge Big Dark. Big Dark slammed a branch against the side of the first one. A third one she hadn’t seen behind him neighed that she would avenge her fallen brother and charged him, slashing through his side.

Big Dark cried out in pain, making Snowball squeak in sympathy. “What part of ‘we are good guys’ can’t you understand?” he growled. He leapt up, landing on the back of the avenging horse.

The glowing animal neighed a laugh of triumph. Finish the dark one! she cried as she bucked, moving about as if the death magic were twisting her body. Big Dark cried out in surprise and landed on the ground with a thud.

But Snowball was already moving, darting forward as fast as she could. The other uninjured unihorse slashed his horn down, eyes firm as he went for a killing blow.

Snowball landed on Big Dark’s face.

“MEEEEEEP!” she bellowed, commanding them to stop.

The male unicorn blinked and stopped.

Big Dark’s mouth moved, and one of Snowball’s feet went into it. She turned towards him. I’m trying to stop them, she scolded him. He gave her a dumbfounded look which she ignored. Turning back to the the glowing one horned deer, Snowball let loose her most commanding words.

“Meep! Meep! Meep! Me-Meep-Me-Mepity-Mepity-Meep!” How dare they attack one of her big people, she chided the male glow-horse. He was out finding her mother! They looked all pretty with their beautiful sparkling mane and spotless fur, but they were just big hooved bullies that _laughed_ when poor Little-Big Dark was just trying to talk his clumsy big people words at them. Had they even tried to listen and understand him? Sure, big people words were hard to understand, and they were so long and took a lot of time to communicate, but _that_ was no excuse!

Both of the one horned deers ears folded backwards, and it lifted a hoof. But...It protested. This was a dark one.

Snowball hopped off of Big Dark’s face and onto his neck, getting closer to prove to the big, pretty creature that she meant business. My dark one! She said, stomping her foot down to prove her point. Not yours! So leave, and take your shiny, nice-feeling magic with you!

Nice-feeling magic? His sister ducked her head with confusion. But dark ones hurt the pure ones. You’re a pure one. Why are you claiming a dark one? the female unicorn challenged, looking at her fallen brother.

Snowball coughed. “Meep, meep!” she replied. He’s my mother’s, she replied proudly. See, he’s wearing one of her beautiful, sparkly happy-makers. It keeps him pure. She gestured to the glowing shape at his wrist.

The unihorse seemed to notice it for the first time, and her brother leaned down to sniff at it. Happy magic, he huffed in confusion.

The female didn’t seem convinced. Dark ones trick, she argued. They lead pure ones into traps of metal teeth. They’ll kill the herd and cut off their horns if the herd doesn’t drive them back. They must be slain to keep the pure ones safe. Let us protect you, the horse urged.

Snowball blinked. “Meep meep.” But he’s my dark one. He smells like snow. When I sit between his ears all the hot magic goes cold. Snowball waved a paw at the two horses. See? My paws and bristles were hurting, and now they feel better.

The female frowned. She looked like she might be considering leaning forward and plucking Snowball off.

Not sure what else to do Snowball repeated herself. He’s my dark one!

Dark one...a part of herd? the male said suddenly.

Snowball chittered happily in response. This seemed to shake the female glow-horse. She drew back, still uncertain. With a last hesitant roll of her eyes, she gave a nod of acceptance turned to trot away, giving her brothers a commanding huff to follow her.

They followed quickly. Snowball sighed in relief.

“Um, thanks?” Big Dark growled in a voice that was heavy like the cat-bird’s.

Snowball preened her bristles proudly and hopped off his neck, onto the one of the big stone slabs. “Meep.” Now bring me to Alpha or Beta so I can fix my bristles, she said to him. Then she could fly and find the soul tree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, there have been a couple arts of Snowball. :D
> 
> This one is by [fantastickingdomus](https://fantastickingdomus.tumblr.com/) of Holly writing with Snowball. I love the disgruntled look the little squeaker has on her face.
> 
> This one is by [alollinglaughingcat](https://alollinglaughingcat.tumblr.com/). I know this was posted in the main story, but it hits on the head so well how Snowball feels about this whole fiasco that I had to post it. XD
> 
> Last of all. So...when I was writing this, I ended up thinking about Snowball a bit. And I had a thought. What if Snowball ate plants. What if she ate dandelions? Thus, I had to draw this. I refuse to regret this. Although, you should have seen Tap's horrified expression when I sent her this pic. XD


	77. Snowball's Day Out (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is part two! Now, where did that soul contract get to?

Big dark looked at her in confusion. “What?” He sat up. Snowball sighed. He didn't understand. She leapt up to his shoulder, scrambling onto his head. Like the last time, she enjoyed the soothing cool that surrounded him.

Big dark made a noise of acceptance and stood up. “Okay, but we still gotta help Black Hat.”

Snowball gave him an argumentative meep. She needed to go get the soul tree. Those pups reminded her of a rat she’d found wandering in at the large burrow one day. He was her size, but he’d spoken like a big person. And smelled bad. Like a bunch of burning leaves.

Big dark, of course, ignored all of this and moved down the street towards what looked like more glowing reindeers. Snowball looked down at him and gave another tiny meep. Figaro was right. Big people did strange things. She’d just convinced those other shiny, pretty horses to leave him alone, and he was walking towards _more._

“Hat!” Big dark took a big leap, putting his hand up to steady her, and landed in the middle of the herd. When he landed, Snowball saw what the other pretty does had were around. It was another dark one. But this one’s magic crackled with an angry energy. Snowball’s bristles went on edge. This was the one who had made the eater! The eater that had tried to eat Alpha, Nice Cat, and Little Dark. Big dark leaned down to try and pull him up, and Snowball scampered farther back on his head. Her ears perked as a smell wafted up to her. Soap. He smelled of it. He _reeked_ of it. She mentally dubbed him Dark Soap from that moment forward.

“Get off me!” he growled. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Big dark lowered his hand and Dark Soap looked at her with large confused eyes, like Figaro when she had surprised him. “What...is that?”    
  
Snowball huffed.  
  
“Hat, meet Snowball, savior of demons. Snowball, meet the guy we are hoping can save Holly from that thing,” Big dark panted. “Now, can we worry about the killer ponies!”

A one horned doe lunged forward toward the soapy dark one, and he moved. “What the hell do you mean savior of demons?” he snapped. Snowball blinked, and her nose twitched a little. Dark Soap’s arm now smelled like fish. Yum. He waved it at the pretty horse, but it danced away, mocking the dark one with a musical laugh.

Snowball made a disapproving noise and shifted on Big Dark's head. It seemed the Big Dark wanted her to stop the nice-feeling glow horses from playing with Dark Soap as well. She needed to find Alpha or Beta so she could fix herself and go get the soul tree. She gave a sigh. Oh well.

“Meep!” Pretty white does, she called.

Like the other three, these unicorns seemed surprised that she had spoken to them. Their eyes remained firmly on Dark Soap. But their ears tilted, asking what it was she wanted. One of them flicked her eyes to Snowball, telling her that if she needed help escaping from the ‘large dark one’ she would leap to her aid in but a moment.

“Me-meep-meep,” she replied. This large and very powerful dark one is mine to command, Snowball declared with emphasis. He is a part of my herd.

The oldest of the unicorns, a more elderly one with a long gray beard falling from his chin, lifted his head and then gave a loud angry neigh. So much language filled the sound that Snowball had to blink. He was angry that she make such a ridiculous claim. He could smell the taint of dark magic on the full grown one. He pawed at the ground, commanding his herd-mates to remain vigilant and not to be distracted from the dangerous creatures.

“Wh-what’s going on?” Dark Soap rasped, looking at the elderly unicorn, who glared death at him, and then at Snowball.

Snowball gave him a quick ‘meep.’ Telling the soap man to be quiet. He was making them more nervous. Turning back to the unicorns, she continued to try and plead for the dark ones’ lives. “Meep-meep.” Can’t you smell the greater darkness?

The unicorn stopped and tilted his head at her. It summoned us, he said in confusion.

“Meeeeep...meep.” The darkness. They stop it. “Meep.”

The bearded horse eyed the soapy dark one, who spoke with his eyes of the violence he would reap on the unicorns if he had the opportunity. The old horse pawed at the ground again. This one would kill us, he said with the motion. We should kill him before he can harm any of the pure.

Big Dark elbowed him lightly. “Watch it. She can only do so much to get them to back down.” The horse looked at Big Dark with consideration, then he looked back at Snowball. The baby dark one doesn’t have the taint-smelled on every other dark one, his lowered shoulders said. He glanced at Big Dark again. Herd. His eyes flicked back to Snowball one last time.

He shook his head wildly. If the old dark or your herd mate does harm to a pure one here, we will come back from our fields to slay them, he said with finality. See to it that they destroy the dark that was brought here.

He gave a sharp neigh, commanding the others to move with him. With that all three backed away and trotted down the street.

Dark Soap’s mouth opened, revealing a row of teeth that reminded Snowball of a large fish she’d seen in one of Holly’s tree holders. “D-did that thing just--”

“Save your bacon?” Big Dark said. Snowball wondered what bacon had to do with this. “Why yes. Yes, she did. You’re welcome. Where’s Alice?” Big Dark started to pet Snowball, instantly making her head go blank as she leaned into the touch.

The Dark Soap said something, but Snowball was focused on the hand. Suddenly, Big Dark removed it. Snowball looked at him ruefully. What had she done wrong?  
  
There was a green glow and a flash of magic that singed her bristles. Big Dark made an unhappy noise. “He has a weird way of showing little to no gratitude, uh Snowball?” She stared at him with focus, tilting her head. They liked it when she tilted her head. Pet me, she commanded him. “And weren’t you with Cup? Why are you a mess?”

Snowball sighed when it looked like there was no chance of that. She licked her paws, using them to rub off some of the egg liquid and ash.

“Have you seen any of the others?” Big dark said. Snowball stopped, taking a moment to understand his words. Alpha and Beta! She lifted her nose, sniffing about. No scent but...the next second she felt the flash of magic she'd been looking for.

“Meep,” she told Big Dark to follow her and leapt off his head, landing with a little stumble. She really needed to fix her bristles. She ran towards the magic.

“Oi! Wait! This place is dangerous!” Big Dark followed her. Come on, she encouraged him with a little dance in her step. Right over here. Good dark one.

Snowball continued to allow her instinct to guide her step, avoiding the streets where she sensed unfamiliar, dark magic and continually heading towards that pleasant magical aura that surrounded Alpha and Beta.

Finally, there was no more avoiding the dark magic. An enormous amount of magic was released. Snowball stopped just around the corner from it, waiting for Big Dark to catch up. A flash of blue filled the air, and she caught a glimpse of the dark creature. She tilted her head and stared.

Spider?

It started to sway, and she scampered down the alley towards it. The smell in the air was delicious. A giant spider. Yum.

It crashed to the ground just as Big Dark stepped up behind her. Instantly, she jumped on top of the thing, taking a moment to grab a barb from one of the legs and make a quick snack of it before she made her way to where she now saw Beta and Nice Beast standing.

Huh. Alpha must still be playing with the cat-bird.

When Snowball reached Beta, she sat down next his foot, too tired at this point to climb up him herself. It took them a moment, but then Nice Beast noticed her. “Oh look! Snowball! What in the world are you doing here?” he gasped.  
  
“Meep,” she replied. Sitting. With much tiredness. Pick me up?

Somehow, Beta seemed to understand what she said and reached down for her. “Boy, you're a right mess,” he said, petting her a little. She gave a sigh of happiness, but made an even happier noise when he placed her on top of his head. She instantly could feel the nice magic run through her bristles, straightening and strengthening them as well as giving her more energy. She pressed against his straw, enjoying the sweet smell that came from it.

The three big people talked. At first Snowball dozed, then she heard her name. “And I saved--er--Snowball saved Hat before he disappeared to go get Alice.” Snowball blinked to awareness and looked around blearily.

Beta looked at her with Figaro confusion eyes. “Snowball did?”

“She apparently is a very convincing negotiator,” Big Dark replied.

“Meep.” Snowball puffed out her chest. Of course the pretty horses wouldn’t touch the dark ones after she told them Big Dark was one of her herd. Then, she looked at Big Dark. He had only talked about Dark Soap. “Me-Meep.” I saved you too, she lectured him.

Big Dark gave her a stubborn look. Snowball sighed. The one-horned deer had said he was a baby dark one? Well, if he waas a pup, that must be why. You had to be patient with pups. Her stomach gurgled. Now that she'd been able to rest a bit, she realized she was hungry. That spider had tasted good. She looked at her bristles. Still tangled. Snowball sighed. And the soul tree. Snowball put her chin on the rim of Beta’s head and continued to watch, feeling the energy healing her. Her stomach twinged again. Later, she promised herself. She started to doze again, enjoying the soothing sensation being on Beta’s head gave her. She’d almost fallen asleep again when there was another surge of magic that shocked her into awareness, sending her bristles on end.

Light Lady appeared with a flash...Dark Soap sleeping on her shoulder? Snowball tilted her head at him, giving him a scolding meep. If he was going to sleep he should do it on the ground, not with his paw over Light Lady’s shoulder. Snowball blinked. Soapy wasn’t the only one who shouldn’t be sleeping right now. She still needed to find that soul tree.

“Alice!” Beta cried out, reaching towards her. Snowball immediately sensed something different about Light Lady’s magic. It had been weakened. She struggled to keep herself and the sleeping soap monster upright.

“Mugman! Boris! And--” She gasped, looking at Big Dark. “B-Bendy?” Snowball tilted her head. What was wrong? She looked over at Big Dark in confusion. She saw his lip twitch. Was it his height?

“It’s okay Alice.” Nice Beast reached for her. Big Dark shifted backwards. “Bendy?” Nice Beast looked at the large dark one with worry.

“I’m fine,” Big Dark said with his lips. His body was saying he was upset, and there was a strange predatory tension she hadn’t seen before. “It’s fine,” the dark one repeated. Light Lady breathed out, her throat moving.

“What happened to Hat?” Beta asked, moving towards her.

“H-Holly.” Light Lady struggled with her words, poor thing. “She escaped, though. I think she’s here now b-but not for long.” On impulse, with the instinct that her bristles had grown back enough that she could, Snowball took a running jump and landed on Light Lady’s arm. The big person of light flinched and looked down as Snowball reached her shoulder. Snowball shoved Dark Soap’s arm away a little as she nuzzled this side of Light Lady’s neck. She chittered, telling the angel that everything would be alright. Big Dark would help her mother. Big Dark grew to protect everyone. “Oh, Snowball! Thank goodness you’re okay.” Light Lady smiled.

“If we don’t have much time, we’ll need to move,” Beta said. “Here, let me take him. You’ll need your hands free to fight Holly.” Beta moved to grab the soapy demon. Taking this as a her que to leave, Snowball jumped as they moved. The wind was blowing again, so she knew exactly what was going to happen when she did it.

WHOOOOOSH.

The moment Snowball’s feet left Light Lady’s shoulder a gust of wind blew down the street, snatching her up like Alpha’s large cat-bird. Snowball gave them a meep, telling them to stay safe. The group of big people disappeared as the current of air carried her high in the air. She needed to find the smelly pups again.

But where could they have gone?

Snowball was careful now. Once she got high enough that she reached the tops of most nearby burrows, she latched onto a passing fire holder that was sticking out.

She sniffed the air and listened to the magic whirling around her. There was too much. She couldn’t feel it.

Snowball crawled across the fireholder and onto the sideways burrow, keeping a careful grip on the ledges as the wind continued to blow by. If she could find her way back to the eagle’s nest, then she might be able to follow their smells to wherever they had gone. But how to get back to the eagle’s nest?

The rodent looked down and saw two familiar figures running down the street. Figaro’s Miss and Figaro hid behind one of the black river’s lifeless beasts as a trio of big people who smelled of blood flew across the street.

Snowball launched herself from the burrow towards a torn fur that lined a burrow opening. She caught it, slid down, and landed right next to the cat, who jumped about a foot and hissed a warning threat.

“Meep,” Snowball greated.

Seeing her, the cat relaxed, but gave her an annoyed yowl from the back of his throat. What are you doing here?

She looked Figaro up and down slowly. The cat knew a lot. So she knew the city. Snowball raised a pointed eyebrow and gave Figaro a friendly meep. I’ve come for guidance oh-cat-of-wisdom.

Figaro froze, blinking.

His tail swished and raised erect as he lifted his head imperiously. Oh, have you? His fur poofed out.

Do you know where the field of ashes is? Snowball tilted her head, giving Figaro wide eyes.

Field of ashes? The cat frowned, his tail still up, but swishing a little.

Where the eagle’s nest is.

The cat gave a loud hiss, his brow lowering. That eagle! Of course I know where it is. It tried to carry off the Miss.

Can you show me? Figaro started to turn his head disdainfully away, but Snowball wasn’t finished. Oh wise and powerful cat god she finished.

Figaro’s ears perked up now. The silence stretched for a moment.

...Why?

A big pup stole the great man’s soul tree.

Figaro looked confused, tilting his furry head. The great man’s soul tree? What’s a soul tree?

Snowball waved a little paw. A tree that smells like a soul. Need fast.

The cat looked back at his Miss, who was still carefully watching more dark creatures pass by down the street.

Scared of the dark? Snow asked.

Figaro turned back immediately. Never! He proclaimed. No self-respecting cat is afraid of the dark.

A screech came from nearby.

The cat jumped again, his back arching.

Snowball gave a meep of laughter. Let’s go then.

The cat gave Snow a rueful look and gave a sigh. My Miss will be worried, but I will come back to protect her soon. He gave her a meow, commanding her to stay hiding while he was gone.

The two of them scampered down the street, hiding behind bits of crumbled burrow every few feet.

Snowball followed the cat. They had to stop several times. Once a large wolf-person started to sniff them out. Another time, Snowball's stomach had made a big gurgling sound. A giant cat had noticed them and chased Figaro down the street. The black cat wasn’t happy about that. His fur stayed puffed up with his anger.

After a long while, Snowball started to recognize a few things. Though the world looked different from the ground than it had when she'd been seen it from the sky. They saw a weird stone big person sticking head first from the ground. Then she smelled fire and finally they reached the field of ash and the baby eagles.

Just a foot from the ash field, Snowball found the smelly pups’ scent again. Yuck! Figaro sneezed and brushed at his whiskers. Smells like rot. The rodent agreed. She couldn’t help but wrinkle her nose at it again. But it was strong, so she wandered down the road. Those are the smelly pups Snowball meeped at Figaro. They have the great man’s soul tree.

The travel was slow. Figaro and Snowball had to continue to hide. This time, they passed a snake that was so large it made big people look small. Later, the smell of a large lizard surprised them both, but then they found it dead, lying between two mostly destroyed burrows. Snowball even smelled the pretty white horses again, but she didn’t see them.

Finally, the smell of the pups got stronger. They came to a place where furs stretched together to form an enormous burrow. However, the rotting smell had grown stronger than just the pups smell. There was more of it than the three pups.

Determined however, Snowball and Figaro slipped underneath the soft surface of the big people’s fur burrow walls.

“Snake eyes~!” A rough musical voice laughed. Snowball blinked, her tiny eyes taking in the scene. The inside of the burrow was filled with a large rotating wheel. Spikes curves from all the edges. An upright wheel rotated at one end of the room, a duck was attached to it. A big, fat sock man grabbed one end of the wheel and spun it. “One!” He grabbed it again, and gave it an extra push. “Two!” Figaro growled softly in his throat as he looked around the room. The duck on the wheel spun.

“That’s cheating you cussing mook.” The duck shouted as he went around and around.

“Donald, your language. The children are here,” a long nosed dog man said. He was tied to a board on the other side of the room. A line of fake big people with some sort of tube thing in their hands were in front of him. To Snowball's surprise, the duck started to speak regular duck...His words were mean words. 

Snowball tilted her head, catching one she didn't recognize. What did that word mean?

“Stop it! Let Uncle Donald go!” a couple of the bunnies shouted. They were in all in nets, hanging from the ceiling.

The sock man laughed, turning to them. “Uh-uh. I neve’ said I’d play fair. And it’s much more fun when lives are on the line.” He snickered at them. “You little things will have your turn. Next it’s you, Mr dog.” He grinned at the dog man. “Wanna bet what you’ll get?”

Goofy frowned at the sock man. “Now, I’ve never been much of a gambling man. Always seemed a bit unfair ta me. Take this here moment now. You say lives on the line make it more fun. But I don’t see you in any kinda life line sit-e-ation.” The dog man twisted his muzzle in puzzled disappointment. “Don’t that mean you’re missin’ out on all the fun you’re talkin’ about?”

The sock man leaned forward, a _snake_ crawling out of his mouth as he hissed at the dog man. He sneered. “Oh brother.” He rolled his eyes. “This guy’s got me hootin'.” His sock eyes narrowed. Snowball looked at Figaro. He leaned forward.  “I don’t think you comprehend the position you’re in.”

What’s that? Snowball asked the cat. The cat shrugged, at a loss too.

The dog man looked down at himself and then back a the sock man. “Well, I don’ think you have me tied up in the standing position, sir.”

The sock man laughed. “Well look at this. A pun! He’s got a mouth. What a fighter I’ve got here! Too bad this game can’t last forever with the audience we’ve got here.” He threw a pair of small white cubes that rolled across the floor.

“Ah-hah! Seven~!” The sock man turned back, reaching for a lever next to the fake big people.

“Oogie! Oogie!” Snowball blinked at she saw the demon pup run down the length of the room, holding the soul tree. “You’ll never guess what we found!” Uh-oh.

“Hey! I wanna tell him!” The witch pup tackled the demon pup, wrestling him for the object. The third one looked at the other two in confusion for a moment. Then he grinned and jumped on top of the others.

The sock man turned and laughed in amusement, watching them wrestle.

“Oh no, more kids,” the duck groaned. He was hanging upside down, his hand moving in one of the straps.

Somehow the mute, smelly pup managed to grab the soul tree and free himself of the others. He ran towards the sock man, shoving the object into his hands. He smiled proudly.

“That idiot,” the witch pup said.

“What’s all this shuffle goin’ around?” the sock man asked her, looking down. Snowball scurried forward, leaving the cat behind her. How was she going to get the soul tree now? And the big people didn’t look happy. What was this big sock man doing to them?

“Mr. Boogie! Mr. Boogie! It’s a soul contract!” the witch pup said quickly before the demon one could get off the floor. The sock man looked down and slowly unrolled the curl. He blinked, taking a moment to scan it.

Then, he started to laugh. He leaned down, clutching his stomach as tears came to his eyes. “You’re joking! You’re joking! I can’t believe my eyes! This is much to much fun. It’s gotta be! This belongs to one of the little ol’ Devil’s spies!”

“Devil spies?” the duck quaked.

“And what’s a soul contract?” the dog asked with a baffled look.

Snowball went back and nudged the cat. Need to help the big people she told Figaro.

Figaro blinked. What are you going to do?

Chew, Snowball said with finality. Chew the plant bands holding the big people in place. You help the rabbit pups, and I’ll help the dog and duck.

But what about the tree thing? Figaro lifted a paw.

Snowball looked at the sock man. Then both of them blinked as the sock man _ate_ the soul tree. It disappeared in one gulp.

“Hehehe. I’ll play with _him_ once I finish this game.” The sock man turned back towards the dog.

They need help first, Snowball meeped, scampering forward before Figaro could ask another question.

“Now, now, I still needa figure out where to put my bet. What can I call out?” the dog asked.

The sock man raised a brow. “Finally feel like playin’ huh? Odd or evens?” He chuckled and a centipede and a couple worms dropped to the ground in front of the dog man’s feet.

Snowball scampered, making it just behind the dog man.

“Huh, oh, hmmmm, well, I guess I’m a bit odd,” the dog muttered. Snowball started to gnaw.

The duck groaned. “Goofy! This is no time for jokes!”

The sock man threw back his head and laughed. His wrist flicked out and the two tiny cubes rolled across the ground. “Eleven~!” He leaned in towards the dog. “I like you, so I guess it’s all good.”

Then he turned to the bunny pups. Grinning, he said, “Well kids, looks like it’s your turn. I must confess, you’re much too cute. It makes me spout my worms!” Snowball gnawed harder. The sock man laughed, and worms sprayed from his mouth, covering the ground. The plant bands tasted terrible, reminding her she was still hungry. Her stomach gurgled painfully. She spied one of the wriggling worms. That looked good. If only she were chewing that.

Several of the children cried out a few said, “eew,” and pulled faces of disgust.

The sock man hissed at them and two spiders popped out of his empty eye sockets. Snowball groaned, distracted for a moment. Spiders. So crunchy.

The net dropped suddenly, but to Snowball's dismay, the sock man grabbed it before it could spill open. The bunnies yelled at him and a bunny in a hat stepped to the front of the group. “You’re gross and mean! And bad guys like you always lose in the end.”

A grumpy boy moved next to her. “Yeah! You’re not scary! You’re just a bunch of bugs!” He pulled down an eyelid and blew a raspberry. “Cussing sock puppet.”

“Now, Ace you don’t use that language,” the dog chastised.

The sock man laughed, opening the net a little to grab the bunny child. It was at that moment that Snowball snipped through the last of the bands holding the dog man to the board. He didn’t stop for a second. He bound forward and grabbed the closest thing he could to swing at the sock man. Which, in this case, happened to be loose juggling pin. He smashed it over the sock’s head and snatched the child from his hands.

“Kids, run!” the dog ordered.

A little like magic, the bunny pups piled out of the net like a swarm of bees and scattering every which way.

Snowball scampered over to the duck, who eyed her from his position upside down. “Wha?” he muttered. Snowball set upon his plant band, still eyeing a couple of wriggling worms nearby. Her stomach grumbled irritably.

Meanwhile, the sock man had seemed to have grown thinner. A wave of bugs of all kinds washed over the dog man, covering him. The smell was so distracting

“Uncle Goofy!” several of the kids called out. They scattered and many grabbed things to hit bugs with.

“Get away from our uncle!” the girl in the hat shouted.

Snowball finished with one of the plant bands around the duck’s wrists. The duck pulled them free and rubbed his wrists before trying to reach his ankles.

The sock man hissed at the little girl, waddling forward and pulling a lever. The whole room started to rotate. A few of the children stumbled and fell.

Feeling that the duck was sufficiently able to help himself, Snowball turned back to the sock man. Her stomach rumbled again. This was bad, what could she do…

Snowball blinked and looked down at one of the worms on the ground. Her nose twitched. Those kept on coming from in the sock man...where the soul tree. A small rodent smile formed on her face.

The sock man picked up the bunny girl with a scowl. Figaro hissed and seemed to fly at the sock man’s face from nowhere. He hissed and clawed at the sock face while the man flailed and dropped the girl.

Quicker, than a flash of lightning, Snowball used the distraction to scampered up to the sock man, all fear gone. She looked for an opening, and in a moment, found a hole in one of his feet. The smell coming from there proved her thoughts right. She dived towards the hole with eager anticipation.

She was instantly surrounded by thousands of bugs. In the darkness of the inside of the sock man’s form, Snowball rubbed her tiny paws together and started on her feast.

Crunch.

* * *

The big dog man peered down at Snowball. She was lying on the ground with a large overly extended belly. Her stomach hurt. “Did that little fella just eat him?” the uncle dog asked.

“I think so. What a cussing mess.” the duck who could speak big people and duck muttered.

“Cussing mess,” Ace parroted.

Goofy frowned. “Well, at least everyone is safe.”

Figaro pawed the soul tree. Found it! He pushed it at the dandehog.

Snowball crawled over to the cat and slowly wrapped her paws around the thing.

She was. Not. Letting. Go. Until. This thing. Was home again. She burped and gave a small meep as something shifted in her stomach.

“Hello?” A soft voice called out from the far side of the room. Figaro perked up. A strange looking figure stepped carefully in the room. Like the bug man, she seemed to be made up of patchwork fur pieces. She looked at the two big people. “Oh!” she exclaimed. She covered her mouth when she saw the remains of the sock man’s bugs. She looked up again. “Did you stop Oogie?” she asked the big people.

“And who are you?” the weird duck pointed the bench leg wood at her in warning.

She put a hand to her chest. “I’m sorry. My name is Sally. I knew Oogie came here as well, so I wanted to make sure he wasn’t hurting anyone.”

“We weren’t afraid. We were bwave!” the girl with the hat posed with her hands on his hips and chin lifted.

The doll girl crouched down, smiling. “I can see that,” she said, looking at the duck for permission before patting the bunny on the head. Her eyes flitted back to the dog and duck. “What happened?”

The duck lowered the wood. Goofy pointed to Snowball. “That there little critter freed us and ate that bug man.”

“It was gross,” the boy bunny said flatly. There was a giggle in the background as a couple of his siblings disagreed. The girl’s eyes widened. She leaned down. “Wow.” She reached down and picked up the empty sock man fur. She looked at them. “I’m sorry Oogie caused you problems. We from Halloween town like a good scare. But we don’t want to actually be mean. This isn’t the first time Oogie has broken the rules.” She made a clicking noise with her tongue and stood up, bringing the sock man fur with her.  

Figaro circled her legs and meowed proudly. I did that to that’s sock things face, he said. She turned to him and smiled. “Oh, how cute.” She leaned down and petted Figaro on the head. She looked at the dog man, the duck, and all the bunny pups. “Are they yours?”

“The cat belongs to Miss Minnie,” the dog answered with a shake of his head. “I hope she’s alright.”

“And we have no clue what that thing is,” the weird duck pointed at Snowball.

Snowball gave him an offended meep, turning her head toward him. “What’s that?” The doll lady reached down towards the soul tree. Snowball meeped angrily and clutched at it possessively.

The girl pulled back and put a finger to her lips. “Well, little thing. Thank you.” She glanced up at the others. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to take her with me.”  

“Well, that’s fine with me,” Weird Duck said.

“You’ll get her back to her owner right?” the dog gave Snowball a confused look. “I coulda sworn I’ve seen that critter around. Who was it?”

The doll girl smiled at him. “Don’t worry. I’ll get her back.”

Snowball looked up at her suspiciously. But by the time she had started dragging the large soul tree across the floor, the girl’s gently fingers had already followed her, wrapped around her middle, and lifted her. “Now, now, don’t get upset.” Snowball wriggled and meeped, calling for Figaro.

Figaro grinned and lifted a paw. You’re welcome! Enjoy the ride. She smells like catnip!

Snowball glared at the cat. Traitor. The girl and dandehog walked out of the tent, the empty sock man tucked under her arm. When they got outside, the girl patted Snowball on the head. “Now, little thing, why do you have that contract?” she asked.

Snowball looked up and glared. She gave another small meep.

The girl laughed. “Feisty. It’s okay. I’m just worried. Having a soul contract flying around who knows where isn’t safe.” She pulled on a string hanging from one of her arms. Breaking off a length she gestured to the dandehog sitting on her palm. “If your worried about losing it, let me tie it on for you and take you home. Being out here with that is a bad idea, especially right now.”

Snowball blinked as the words filtered through. Carefully the girl set Snowball down and went about tying the scroll to the small rodent’s back with her string. That done, she picked Snowball back up. “Too bad I can’t speak to you,” she murmured. “I’d like to know what this is about.”

Snowball looked up and meeped. It was probably best that she couldn’t. With that, the girl carried the dandehog carefully away from the circus. The clouds around them had started to loosen and drift away. The magic in the air was fading. The ground rumbled, and miracle of miracles, the houses started to shift downwards, the earth moving back to its rightful place. Whatever had changed the city was starting to loosen its hold. Snowball turned her head left or right and meeped, directing the girl until they finally got back to the house. When they reached the burrow, it was still high in the air though. Snowball meeped in distress. A magical glow suddenly appeared around the doll girl.

“Oh, it looks like I have to go. I’m sorry. I’d like to have spoken with your owner.” She sighed and set the dandehog down. “Stay safe, little one.” She turned, looking around. A moment later, her face lit up. “Jack!” She walked quickly away, disappearing from view.

The dandehog gave out a large breath. The burrow would come down, and she could go back inside. She watched eagerly as the burrow started to move downwards.

That's when the wind picked up again.

There was an enormous whoosh, and Snowball was swept off her feet, the weight of the soul tree taking her down the black river. A second later, she managed to grab onto the side of a fire holder as the wind continued to wrench at her, attempting to drag her away. Snowball meeped, fighting it. She. Wasn’t. Going. Anywhere.

That’s when the hand closed around her.

“A last snack for the road! What a frighteningly grand way to end a night!” A monster with several rows of sharp teeth and tentacles coming from his head chuckled. Snowball instantly felt a whoosh of cold magic. This was another dark one. Snowball squeaked and wriggled in a panic. The feathers covering his body shifted as he lifted his hand towards his enormous mouth. Snowball sank her teeth down on his hand.  

“Ow, feisty! Oh, I like spicy food.” The demon turned his head to look at her and paused. “What’s this?” He lifted a hand to the soul tree. Snowball instantly clutched it harder, glaring. “A soul contract? It can’t be yours.” The demon frowned, but there was a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

Snowball chittered angrily at him, teeth still attached to the side of his hand. He ignored her and pulled at the paper. Though she fought, it slid from underneath the doll girl’s knot and came free. No! Alpha was counting on her! “Now, let’s see who we have here?” He unrolled it. “My, my, Cuphead eh?” His toothy grin dropped. “Oh...oh no. The _king’s_ contract?” He turned wide eyes on Snowball. “Now, why would a snack like you have something like this?”

Snowball gave the dark one a high pitched ‘peeep’! If only the pretty horses were here. If only she could get the dark one to let go of her!

“Well, I’m not crossing anymore lines today. Why ruin such a good thing after all? No, I think you can take this back. I really rather not burn for being caught with one of the King’s contracts.” The dark one shook his head and rolled the soul tree back up. “No, if anyone should ask, I never saw you, and you certainly never saw me.”

Snowball stopped wriggling and blinked. Huh?

He gave Snowball the soul tree and put her down. “Just the right amount of fun, really. It’s time to go home. I’m truly a genius. Yes, no doubt.” The dark one walked away.

Snowball blinked again. What had just happened? The dark one disappeared as the last of the burrows settled on the ground around her. Snowball perked up and scurried towards the old gopher’s burrow before anything else could happen.

A moment later, she found herself in front of a very closed moving tree. Snowball scowled, chattering at it loudly. I have come back after retrieving Alpha’s soul tree, she proclaimed. Open for me.

The moving tree mocked her with its silence.

Snowball snorted and hurried around the side of the large structure. There were other ways in. Climbing up the inside of the large stone tunnel that the big people attached to all their burrows for small animal’s convenience, Snowball got to the top of the burrow and made her way along the edging until she reached the open square attached to Alpha’s nesting room. She looked at the tangle of nest bits and wood with longing.

She leapt for the opening.

Bam.

Snowball blinked as the air hardened against her. It was touchable again...But it hadn’t been touchable when the the soul tree had fallen...

This was the last bristle. Snowball sat up erect, chattering nonsensically at the square of air. Obviously this square was the real enemy. It must have been the touchable air’s plan to lose Alpha’s soul tree all along. First it just let the thing fall out all willy-nilly! Now, it wouldn’t let her back in once she had _finally_ gotten the curl of tree back!

Snowball beat herself against the hardened square of air, demanding that it open and apologize for all the trouble it had caused. Just then, Snowball hit the edge of the wood surrounding the empty air, and there was a creak.

Why was the air touchable here? You should always be able to get through air! She flew on air! What was with these weird bits of air who had personalities that told you whether or not you could come and go? It was worse than when the moving trees mocked her with their silence.

She took a step back and hurtled herself towards it again. But this time, she went through with no resistance. Her eyes went wide as she flew into the room, hit the far wall, and bounced back to land on Beta’s tangled nest. She turned around to glare at the offending square of air.

Now it was just playing with her. It was her true enemy. She would get her revenge.

Snowball hopped down and scurried underneath the nest, looking for the other soul tree. To her great relief, it was sitting in the corner, untouched. Snowball let out a high pitched sigh of relief and rolled the other one next to it. She squinted at them. One was a nice white color with a bit of dust on it.

The other, however...

It was sticky from when it had landed in the egg with her. It had tried badly, and the edges had curled up. It was covered in bits of black, and it _smelled_. Snowball stared for a moment and sighed. She nuzzled it the best she could, cleaning off the black bits and trying to smooth out the edges. When she finished, it still smelled and looked worse than the other. It was the best she could do, though. So, with that, she hopped back over onto Alpha’s nest and fell asleep.

* * *

Once again, it was night. Snowball had been cleaned off, cared for, and spent most of the day in the middle of Alpha’s head fur. Her eyes popped open from next to Alpha’s head. She carefully climbed down and slipped under Beta’s nest.

She tugged on the smelly one first, pulling it out into the open. Then, wrapping her front paws around the thing, she bounced with her back feet, landing on the four legged tree where Alpha hung his outer fur with all the pouches. She sniffed around and finally found the pouch she was looking for. Slipping it in, she went back for the other one. When they were both securely inside the pouch, Snowball took a step back, giving a noise of achievement.

Then, she bounced back to the head of Alpha’s nest and settled next to the big person’s head fur. The fluffiness of it tickled her nose, and she pawed at it playfully as she waited for sleep to settle back on her.  

It had been a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tap: Snowball the unsung hero! And may Cuphead and Mugman never find out! XD Seriously though, does anyone really know how smart this critter is? Maybe Bendy now. Maybe. To her, the people are the pets either way. Hopefully they learn to listen to her. Seriously. I love the puffball.


	78. Thursday, November 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Depression
> 
> Hi guys! Tough things are happening and...I'll just let you read it. T-T

When I woke, it was with anger in my heart and a curse on my tongue.

That was the first indication to me that something was terribly wrong. The second were the waves of panic and fear that overtook me the next seconds of my consciousness. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew it was terrible. I was terrified. I was filled with shame. 

But I had no clue why. 

Those are the most vivid things I remember. And a few things from the hospital, other than so many faces and a vague impression of Alice and Bendy saying things to me. I’m not sure what. I saw bandages on both of them. for some reason that sent waves of sorrow through me so strong that streams of tears just started going down my face. I could hardly think. Ha. I was barely awake.  

In the end, the trip from the hospital was a blur, and then I dropped back into the blissful darkness of unconsciousness. My memory from that point continues to be hazy. I think I spent most of the next three days unconscious. At least, that’s what Alice said. All I know is that after what seemed like such a short amount of time my mind just wouldn’t stay blank anymore. My eyes opened slowly, and I saw light streaming in from my window. It hurt my eyes. Actually everything hurt. I sat up. 

The same panic from when I woke up in the hospital hit me, and for a moment I just sat there, trying to breathe my way past the fear. I stumbled out of bed, my legs tangled in the blankets, and I tumbled onto the floor. But then I noticed the searing pain coming from my shoulder. I gasped, my right gripping my left for what felt like an eternity before the pain dulled a little. My left arm was in a sling. I stared at it in confusion.

It felt like I had gone to sleep at home and woken in a different world. 

It was at that moment that I also realized my talent wasn’t working. I’m not sure how I didn’t notice before. I don’t know how other people remember the world or what their talents are like but mine is a little like breathing. I don’t use it. It just happens. So, when I stared at my arm in confusion, trying to reach back to figure out what had happened...and found nothing, it felt like my whole world had shattered. I panicked, so much more frightened than I had been before. What had happened? Why was I hurt? Why wasn’t my talent working? Why did I ache? Breathing harder, I tried to reach back farther--for other memories that I’d seen before, ones that I knew I’d relived before in my mind. 

Nothing.

Only a vague recollection, like a fuzzy television screen. It was at that moment that Alice pushed the door open, worry and a little bit of wariness in her eyes. 

I stared at her. 

“Holly? You’re up! Are you okay?” Alice pushed the door open further. 

I blinked. It was like my mouth had dried up, and I’d forgotten how to speak. My insides shrunk. I opened my mouth and closed it again. “Alice?” My throat was rough. “What’s going on?” I whispered. “I don’t know how I got here.” 

Her eyes turned guilty and sad. “What’s the last thing you remember clearly?” 

The tone of her voice made my stomach drop. “Testing the cog,” I managed. “I think?” The memories were all so fuzzy. I couldn’t  _ see _ them clearly. 

Her eyes widened. “That long?” she murmured. Her shoulders dropped in defeat. “More damage than I feared but at least she remembers us.” She pouted. “Bendy won’t be happy.” She shook her head. “You best stay sitting Holly, my friend. We have a lot to talk about.” She stopped herself. “Unless you don’t want to now. You still need time to recover. You shouldn’t push yourself.” 

To my surprise, I considered it. I’ve always hated not knowing things, but for some reason, my stomach clenched instinctively and that cold fear crept up between my shoulder blades. 

The fear of not knowing, however, was much more terrifying. “Please,” I said. “What’s happened?” 

Alice sat next to me. She sighed heavily. “I don’t know everything, but I will explain all that I can. Stop me if it becomes too much. Please.” She took a deep breath and began. 

It took her at least an hour to go over the basics of what happened. She was right. I barely caught half of it. Still, even half out of my mind and terrified, I got the important parts. 

I’d...destroyed the city?

I’d tried to murder the Cup brothers.

Ha! I tried to murder everyone.

My throat closed up with each additional word Alice spoke. I only had a moment to consider and fear the implications of attempting to murder on two assassins before Alice continued. 

Boris’ kidnapping. Cala’s interrogation. The destruction of the city. 

I almost asked Alice if she was sure, if she hadn’t made a mistake then. I know, a stupid thing to ask and a stupid place to ask it. It just didn’t seem possible. 

None of it seemed real. None of it seems real.

Yet Alice wasn’t a liar and the pain in my shoulder, the ache in my body, the disappearance of my talent, and the massive hole in my memory were more than enough of a mystery to prove it. 

At this point I was too exhausted to continue. Alice stopped and put me back to bed. 

“Are you hungry at all? I have soup ready if so,” Alice offered, hands clasped in front of her. 

I stared at the floor, my head was spinning. I put a hand up. It was still spinning. It felt wrong to ask or accept anything from her. 

But the fact was that I was ravenous. Somehow she knew without me even saying anything. She left and returned with a warm bowl. 

I ate and slept. 

That’s how it went for the next couple days. I would wake, unable to sleep anymore, I would ask Alice to continue, and then I would eat. That would be all I had energy for before I was exhausted again. 

Then, I started to have the dreams. 

In the first, I was standing in the infirmary at Granny’s. Bendy, Cuphead and a cat I didn’t recognize all lay unconscious on the beds. I stood in front of them with a needle. A type of excitement, one that makes me sick to my stomach, filled my heart. I moved to Bendy, tapping him on the side of the head, shouting in his ear. His face crinkled. Satisfied with that, I moved to the assassin and  _ slapped  _ him. 

The worst part was that I enjoyed it. It sent a rush of vengeful satisfaction, especially when his head just snapped to the other side. 

Then, I went to use the needle. 

I’m sorry. I feel sick again. I need to sleep. 


	79. Friday, November 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day Two of Recovery: More nightmares.

Last night I dreamt of standing on the edge of the docks as the Cup brothers hovered above the water...Snowball was there, trying to run. I grabbed her...so hard.

In the dream I clicked my tongue as she wriggled, crying out. Snapping my fingers and I let the brothers drop into the water.

With the echo of them hitting the water, I woke with a start. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see. And I realized that there was too much liquid blocking my vision. As the image lingered in my head I felt the roughness of my blanket and clutched it, sucking in sobs because it was the only air I could get.

Suddenly, a gentle warmth surrounded me. A hand rubbed my back, and Alice’s voice hummed softly next to me. Alice held me close, not speaking, just humming some song I’d never heard before, allowing her gentle presence to cradle me.

Eventually, I fell asleep again.

Waking up again felt like a nightmare. Like sleep was reality and this was a dream, a terrible dream I would do almost anything to escape. I lay where I was, staring at the ceiling as I just breathed softly. My head hurt. Hurt from sleeping. I wasn’t even sure how long I’d slept this time. I turned away from the window, looking at my room.

The door was halfway open, and I could see light coming from the front room.   
I tried to sleep again, but nothing seemed to help. My head was done with being unconscious, even if I wasn’t. So, I got up. I sat at the edge of my bed, not sure what I intended to do.

My hair was messy and my clothes were rumpled from being in them so long. I realized there was a funny smell coming from them. Grabbing the edge of my shirt I sniffed.

A strange, sweet smell drifted from my clothes. Some sort of herb. And so many other smells. I gagged.

I suddenly realized how disgusting my skin felt.

Despite the lack of energy and soreness, I managed to move to the bathroom. Then, I realized I had another problem. The sling.

The burn.

My sleeve had been cut off so that they could bandage it. But how was I supposed to remove the rest with the bandage and sling? Too exhausted to really think hard about it, I went back to my room and found a pair of scissors, cutting the rest of it off.

Then, my brows lowered. A morbid sort of curiosity filled me. Slowly, I unwound the bandages, which needed replacing anyways.

It was painful, peeling away each layer. Finally I got to the last one and gasped as it stuck for a moment. I clenched my teeth and continued, hissing.

Finally, the last bit was gone, and I could see it. The skin on my shoulder was dark with the burn, standing out in stark contrast to my neck and arm. It had an almost scaley quality, and as my fingers hovered above it, I could feel the extra heat emanating from it.  

Alice had told me she wasn’t sure where I’d gotten the burn. She thought it might have been from the dragon I’d summoned against her, but she hadn’t seen it happen herself.

I sat on the toilet and leaned against the wall. It didn’t matter. I deserved it. I should have been more careful with the cog.

I had messed up.

That was the conclusion I had come to after wading through what few things I could remember before the gap in my memory to try to pick out what had happened.

I’m not talking about the terrible things I did. Those are a part of a completely different issue. I’m talking about how I _knew_ that the page had said that the cog was the most dangerous of the parts. I’m talking about how even after reading that and seeing strange symptoms I’d still pushed forward with testing the thing.

I’d thought I knew what I was doing. That I would tell Oddswell if anything strange started happening. It had done hardly anything to Mugman. And I’d thought it would be so useful. I was an arrogant fool.

Teetering on a minimum amount of energy, I filled the bath with water and started to sponge myself down.

By the time I was clean enough that I could bare myself again, I realized I had no idea how to rebandage my arm.

So, with little other options, I slid on a sleeveless undershirt and a skirt.

Alice found me there ten minutes later, helplessly trying to get the bandage to stay. She scolded me while rebandaging my arm and shoulder. I could hurt myself messing with it.

All I could mutter was a half-hearted ‘sorry.’

I went to sleep again. Barely an hour later, I woke again from another nightmare. I’m not sure whether these are my memories coming back or whether my mind has just been spouting whatever horrors it can imagine in it’s frantic attempts to fill the gap. I can only suppose that they are real at this point. They match up with what Alice told me.

It is probably a good thing.

The more I remember, the more convinced I become of a single fact.

Whatever happened to my mind, I was still in there. When I dream, it's not like I'm trapped inside my head, trying to get myself to stop. I'm there.

It's me.

My reasoning. My interests. My determination.

But with something else.

At best the dreams disturb me. At worst, they make me think that I no longer deserve to be called these people’s friend.


	80. Saturday, November 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So sorry I haven't posted in a couple weeks. Things have been really hectic for me lately. On the bright side, I got accepted to a Publishing program for grad school! On the dark side, the dog I had for the last ten or so years died. And many other things happened in between. But! I am back now, and I'm going to make sure to catch Holly's journal up to the main story. :D Lots of fun things are happening, as well as stuff behind the scenes. Also, happy 100th!

I don’t know what to write.

My head feels so...mixed up.

I’m assaulted by constant waves of panic.

I can hardly pinpoint why.

I can’t look Alice in the eye. I know she worries, but whenever I try to speak it’s like those waves grow bigger, pounding into my head until I can hardly think.

But when she’s gone, it feels like things get worse.

Alice left to go to work this morning. I was nauseous, so I tried to sleep, but it just wouldn’t come to me.

Lying in bed, I stared at the ceiling until a thought came to me.

I should look outside.

I’d been avoiding it since I’d woken up. Well, everything, but this in particular.

But with Alice gone, for some reason it gave me a permission to try. If she wasn’t here, I wouldn’t have to worry about worrying her if I ended up having another major panic attack when I looked outside. If that makes any sense.

And it's a good thing I did.

What I saw when I opened the door was like a punch to my stomach. Several buildings were in rubble. Vines covered the ground. Trash was strewn across the street. In the distance, I saw toons in working jumpers cut at the dead plants.

I lingered at the door, staring at the rubble. Then, I took a step out. I turned in a slow circle, taking in the scene. My legs suddenly went weak, and the next moment, I was on the ground.

How was this even possible?

This. This was what that cog was capable of. This is what it had been able to do with a little knowledge from my head and a direction to go in. A fear even greater than before surged through me.

Just what in the stars were those boys building?

If it could make _that_ of me...If it could do _this_...Was it really such a wise thing to do to build this? What sort of terrors would occur before that goal was ever realized?

I scrambled backwards and slammed the apartment door closed behind me the moment I was back inside. I didn’t stop there. I practically ran back to my room and shut it behind me, locking it when I was done.

This was madness. This was wrong. This was _all_ wrong. How could something like this help to _cure_ someone? It was evil.

When Alice came back from work, she came to my door and knocked. I should have answered. I should have done something. But all I could do was sit there, caught in the circle of my thoughts.

I had summoned that destruction.

The cog had turned me.

How had it turned me? Why?

Was that evil a part of me or wasn’t it?

What the stars had the cog done?

What the stars could it be capable of doing?

How was it that something that could make me into something like _that_ could be a cure for Ink Illness?

An hour passed, and I came to realization. I couldn’t handle it anymore. I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling for what felt like the thousandth time in the past few days. I couldn’t handle it. I should leave. I needed to go. The moment I got the strength, I had to leave. It was cowardly, but I couldn't handle this. That cog. The mass destruction. The bandages covering everyone. 

As is the case these days, I fell asleep eventually, too exhausted to think anymore.

It was only when Alice knocked on my door again that I woke.

“Holly. Are you up?”

I sat up in bed, staring at the door. My mind begged me to answer, but my mouth wouldn’t open.

“You have company sweetie. Will you come out to join us?” Alice asked gently. “They wanted to see if you were okay.”

Her words sent a wave of panic through me, and I moved off the bed, ready to hide in the closet. I knew who it had to be. Bendy. Boris. Anyone else from the house. I couldn’t see them. Not yet. Not now. It was enough to make me consider a mad dash for the window.

Silence fell, and I knew I should say something. But my throat was closed, any words that came to mind seemed shallow, inadequate. And the memory of...of the doll in my hands, of twisting its limbs made me sick. My thoughts at that moment. The sick satisfaction I felt having hurt him, getting revenge because of what Cuphead had done. Whatever that was. Considering the benefits and drawbacks of just killing the demon.

It brought terror into my heart so badly that I honestly thought I might heave, I was so nauseous. And if I saw him, I would imagine his bones snapping. And I...I couldn't...I couldn't...I leaned over and gagged. No. No-no-no-no-no.

“Please Holly? Everyone has been so worried,” Alice said. “I can tell you who’s here if you want.”

I rocked gently as I tried to regain some semblance of calm. Finally, by some miracle I managed to speak. “...Can’t handle it,” I was able to choke out through my terror.  

There was silence for a long moment. Then Alice spoke. “Okay. Don’t push yourself.” I heard the creak of her walking away before I was finally able to let out the quietest sob of relief.

I pressed my face against my knees, wiping at my watery eyes. I didn't deserve to talk with them anyways. And what good would talking do anyways? Nothing would change. No matter how forgiving their hearts were, it didn’t change what I’d done. And what about people I didn’t even know? Had someone died? There wasn’t a chance that all the things I’d summoned hadn’t at least hurt someone badly. Who knew what I’d had the chance to do in the middle of all the chaos.

There was one sharp rap on the door. My head jerked up. “Hey tree princess, I know ya said you didn’t wanna see our faces, but I have somethin’ here for ya.” My eyes widened in surprise. And then fear. The cupman was here?

The next moment I heard the musical laughter of Snowball. The sound surprised me so much that it seemed to chase away all my other emotions. A second passed and a desire rose. I wanted to see her.

“Hello? Holly?” Cuphead sounded almost...nonchalant. “Puff here has been at the house waiting for you, but ya never showed. We brought her over for you. She’s been patient ya know,” he continued. “A real pal even. I was almost tempted to keep her.” My eyes narrowed, and I sniffed as I quickly rubbed at my eyes again. He wouldn’t! Would he? But the truth was that I didn't really even deserve the tiny beautiful girl anyways. My shoulders sagged as I stared at the floor.

Something pinched in my heart. No.

I stood up shakily and opened the door barely, still afraid of what would happen, but wanting so badly to see my small, loyal friend that I couldn't ignore the impulse. Outside my door, I saw Cuphead, a hand in his pocket as he held out the dandehog in his other. I kept my eyes carefully away from him. I stared at the small animal.

Snowball’s eyes sparkled the moment she met mine in the purest type of joy. Snowball let out a high-pitched happy noise that I had never heard before and leapt for me so fast that I blinked in surprise. Then, she was on my shoulder. I stared at her for a moment before I realized I still had the door open. Without my bidding my eyes drifted towards the assassin.

Cuphead was gazing at me with a neutral expression. His eyes seemed sharp and searching. His body was relaxed. He didn’t seem hurt in any way. His eyes went from Snowball to me and back.

I looked into his eyes. Bubbles. Bubbles drifting to the top of the water as a figure drifted down. I hated bubbles. Shame. Shame washed over me. And fear of what he was capable of doing because I’d tried to kill him...and his brother.

I grabbed the door and swung to close it, fear sending adrenaline through my fatigue. It stopped an inch from closing. The smirk that was on Cuphead’s face then sent a chill down my spine. “Ah-ah-ah tree princess. You and I have business. Puff isn’t the only one that’s been patient.”

Oh heavens.

Knowing any further attempts to close the door would be useless, I let it go and fled to my closet, shakily searching for my chalk from inside my wrinkled dress. Barrier. Even if he was strong, he couldn’t get through a Barrier rune, could he?

I shut the closet door behind me and scrambled to the floor at the back of the closet, writing as fast as I could. “And just what are you hoping for in there?” I heard his voice just beyond the closet door. My hand started to shake. Almost finished. The door was jerked open just as I finished it and reached for the energy to activate the rune.

Nothing happened.

I stared up at the cupman in surprise. But? Snowball meeped in my defense, for all the good it did. I stared up at the cup assassins face. He had on an evil smile if I’ve ever seen one. My life flashed before my eyes.

I had about five seconds to gap at him before I was hoisted in the air. “H-Hey, s-stop!” My throat felt thick and coated. I couldn’t even yell very loud.

Cuphead looked back towards the door for a moment and then responded. “And why should I do that? If you’re gonna act like a sad sack of potatoes, I’m gonna treat you like one.”

Huh?

What the horsefeathers did that mean?

Cuphead laughed, and the next second, I was flying through the air. I gasped, but then arms caught me. “Mugs! Now!” I stared at Mugman, who gave me an apologetic smile. The next moment the world went up in smoke.

The smoke dispersed, and sunlight warmed my skin. We were outside. “Starfallen idiot,” Mugman muttered. “We are so dead when everyone catches up to us.” He heaved a heavy exasperated sigh.

I stared at him. “Put me down?”

“Oh! Yeah, uh...sorry,” Mugman apologized sheepishly.

“Thank you,” I said almost out of habit.

Mugman started to put me down. Oh thank goodness. “I am so sorry about him Holly,” he continued. “I have no idea what is going on in my brother’s head.” I doubt anyone could figure that out. “I was really just hoping he was going to give you back Snowball.” Mugs grimaced. I was honestly surprised either of them had been there at all. “I can take you back if you--”  

Before I could even think about accepting Mugs’ offer or touching the ground, a pair of hands whisked me into the air again. “Ups-y-daisy!” Cup said in a merry sing-song voice that immediately disgusted me. I wasn’t sure whether I should be terrified for my life or wondering if I was impersonating Santa’s toy sack.

“Cup!” Mugs rushed to catch up. Much to my embarrassment, I saw Daisy and Minnie staring at the scene. I considered calling out, but all at once, another wash of hopelessness came over me. It would be fair if he did want revenge, now wouldn’t it?  “C’mon Mugsy! We won’t have long with an angel tracking us.” Cup waved the hand he wasn’t using to carry me. I closed my eyes and sighed. Did I even care?

A second later, the cupman shook me. I blinked my eyes open in surprise. “So, that’s it? You really are just going to hang around and accept whatever the hell I feel like putting you through?”

I felt a flash of anger. What did he want?

“I’m curious to see how bad this can get,” I breathed out with whatever energy I could muster. There. Satisfied?

“Oh this could be hell,” the cupman continued cheerfully. I saw Mugs pale. Well, that was far from encouraging.

“At least I won’t need a blanket,” I shot back at him without thinking. What did he expect me to do? Even if my arms weren’t pinned to my sides by the blanket, for some reason my runes weren’t working.

I purposely avoided thinking about the reasons that may be and whether it could be a permanent condition.

The next second, my world whirled again as I was dropped off of the offending cupman’s shoulder. Any sort of cool I thought I had gathered in my apathy quickly drained away...along with most of the blood in my face.

I knew this park. I’d slept in this park. I loved this park.

Most of the trees were splintered. One just to my right had cracked right down the middle. At one point, I’d sat in that tree and ended up dozing off while thinking. Bits of silky string glistened from almost all of them, so I didn’t have to take a bit guess at which monster had wrought destruction here.

The sound of a chainsaw starting made me flinch. A horse started to cut into the remains of a fallen tree, separating it from the root so the rest of it could be hauled away. I swallowed. And swallowed again.

“Now, there is a lot I want to say. Even more I could say, but I have no clue how much you’re going to cussing remember.” I almost didn’t hear him, I was so starstruck by the scene.

It would take years to grow the place back to what it had been. Beautiful. Full of life. Strong. I searched for words after a moment, almost forgetting to answer him. “I’ll remember,” I whispered, looked down, trying to find again the stray reins of my mind.

“Don’t look at your feet! Mugs and I went through a lot of trouble to bring you here. Look up, damnit!” Cuphead’s voice was sharp, demanding. Mugman made an upset noise.

I glanced at Mugs and couldn’t help but notice the white peeking out from underneath his pant leg. I looked away, clenching my fists. I took a breath, knowing I was on the brink of hysteria again and terrified that I’d just break down in front of them. I took another quick breath. It hitched, but I managed to keep control until my eyes were on the scene again.

“Now.” The cupman started to speak again. “I’m sure there is a lot going through your head. Stop me if I’m wrong.” He started to speak in a mimicking voice. “I can’t believe I did this? How could I have done this?” I stared ahead, keeping my mind blank simply to be able to keep control. I swallowed again. H-Horsefeathers. I wasn’t working. I saw the moment I’d summoned the spider. “No one will ever forgive me. Should they ever forgive me? I am the worst.” I reached a hand to cover my mouth. Long, spiked black legs carefully stepping out of the portal. My teeth clenched down. “The absolute worst. I am scum.” I-I needed to breath… Someone screamed. The monster's eight eyes turned curiously towards the sound. “I don’t even deser--”

“Cuphead stop!” Mugman sounded angry. “You’re going to give her a panic attack!”

I sucked in a breath as Mugman’s words jerked me right out of the image. I was shaking. I closed my eyes to blot everything from my mind. Thank the stars for Mugman.

I opened them again. But Cuphead was right. Somehow the emotions combined together to form a bubble that popped in the form of a hoarse laugh. “Easier than what I tried to give the both of you.”

Mugman gave me a sad and surprised look. Cuphead just raised a brow without much care. “Oh yeah,” he said offhandedly. “You tried to kill us. A number of times even. Drowning, burning, feeding us to monsters. That was pretty gutsy of you, princess.”

“B-but that wasn’t really you, right Holly?” Mugs managed through his surprise. He looked paler.

Was it? Wasn’t it?

Who had been that sadistic, selfish, vengeful person? Who had I been before? Who was I now? Did it even mean anything?

A spear of panic shot through me, and I reached for my head. Pain burned at my shoulder, and I had to drop it. “I don’t know,” I whimpered. “It’s all so fuzzy and vague.”

Did I know? Was I just avoiding it? I hated saying ‘I’ whenever I talked about Nightmare Night, yet something inside of me _wouldn’t_ let me say she. “Still didn’t change what you did. You messed up big, tree princess,” Cup said with no pity.

It’s funny. I appreciated it even as it hurt. I wanted no pity. I just wanted things to be right again, for the world to make sense again.

I turned away from them. “I did.”

Cuphead continued, not needing my attention to continue the list of atrocities. “You wrecked the city, nearly killed us and everyone else, Boris is gonna be afraid of spiders for who knows how long, and who knows the trauma Mickey is going to be dealing with.” Cuphead paused. “I mean, this city is going to be a mess for a few more weeks, and the hospitals are so busy with hurt people, and now Mugs and I are going to have to show Boris how to use that cussing pipe. And it’s all. Your. Fault.” The panic surged, but I managed to keep it in this time.

“I mean, you couldn’t really kill anyone. That’s pathetic. All that power, and you just couldn’t pick a plan to stick to. I heard your unicorns killed your monsters. That’s sad. Seriously, what evil overlord has their own forces tearing each other apart?” I blinked, and frowned. What had he just said?

“Cup?” Mugs echoed my thoughts.

The cupman gave a disappointed sigh. “And Mugs only got a cut-up leg. There won’t be scars. Not even a single stitch. You tried to kill us three times, and you couldn’t do much more than a skinned knee? You are the sunblazing worst at being a villain.” He shook his head disapprovingly.

I turned back to him slowly. Just...what was he doing? What was his point?

“Ya know, all this cosmetic damage sure looks impressive, but in the end, you can’t pay out. Mugs and I had to shake some of the mob off you, because they thought you had potential.” My heart leapt out of my chest as I felt the blood drain. Cup shook his head, hands on his hips. “I have no cussing idea what they were thinking. I haven’t ever seen such a pushover tree princess in my life. You couldn’t crush a bug.”

Was he insulting me for now causing _more_ chaos?

“So, I really don’t get this sad pity party you’ve been throwing for yourself.” Cup slid his hands into his trench coat. “Do you want to be a good villain? Hat can give you pointers.”

I continued to stare at him. And my mind started to move. It was fuzzy and tired and full of stress, but something clicked in my head.

Was...he trying to comfort me? Was this guy trying to make me feel better by saying I was a terrible villain?

What sort of messed up plan was that?

“Heavens no!” I snapped. I finally blinked and turned away, not knowing what to make of it. “But I’m not sure what _to_ do.” I wasn’t sure why, but the words slipped out like a breath.

“With what?” Cuphead asked opening a pack of cigarettes and started one.

“With anything. I’m not sure I even deserve to be here,” I said honestly. And being here scared me.

The two of them immediately burst into laughter. Though I had no idea why they were laughing, my face heated up, and I instantly felt the impulse to find a rock and crawl under it.

“Y-you don’t think you--are you kidding me!” the starfallen Killer Cup choked out through his laughter.

“Holly, if anyone doesn’t deserve to be here, it’s us!” Mugs reassured. “We tried to kill Bendy and Boris too!”

“Hell, I think we were a lot closer to succeeding then you were kid,” Cup gasped, wiping away tears.

What the _fried applesauce_ was so funny about that? Anger flared in me. They were acting as if almost killing someone was some sort of a joke.

I didn’t find it funny.

“Don’t laugh about that,” I snapped. The words started to run like water from my head, becoming more real with each second. “The only reason I didn’t kill him is because of the sick, sadistic idea that filled my head that I wanted to see him suffer, that I wanted to see you all suffer. I t--” I stumbled on the last word, I brought such an ill feeling to my stomach. I fought the impulse to heave again. “I tortured him.” I wanted to cry. “Bendy. Who’s already gone through too much stardust.” Who would probably go through oh-so-much more if he survived.

“And he’s fine now.” Cuphead’s smile dropped. “Whatever you do won’t ever be as bad as his attacks. I think we can all agree to that.” He breathed in. “And the only reason I didn’t kill him is because Mugs got in the way,” he said in a low voice. I frowned and looked up slowly. What? “I shot my brother instead.” Cuphead looked at his brother, misery in his eyes. “And I thought I had killed him.”

“Cup.” Mugman stepped forward to put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. Cuphead shook his head, refusing the comfort. My mind whirred and something clicked into place. The wound. Mugman’s wound? That had been Cuphead?

“Go on. Show her Mugs,” Cup said wearily, almost drained of any energy as he turned away in shame. Mugman sighed a tolerant sigh and lifted his shirt.

Dark skin and mended folds of a creeping spider crack in his middle. I fought it, but the side of my mind that was always questioning couldn’t help but wonder how he’d been able to heal from such an injury. I frowned, looking at Mugman. His eyes were on his brother as he dropped his shirt. “It was an accident, Cuphead.”

“But an accident that was meant for that demon and wolf.” The words shot a question into me. Then, why had it stopped? What had changed? I hadn’t ever truly believed the cup brothers when they said they had had a change of heart, but the expression on Cuphead’s face at that moment told me more surely than any word could that something had been completely flipped on its head.

Cuphead didn’t answer my silent question but turned his eyes on me. “You wanna run from what you did? Then, you better be ready to run for the rest of your cussing life, because that’s how that life goes. And if you think that group we left in the dust is going to let you do that, then you have another thing coming. They will hunt you down to every corner of this starfallen planet, and you and I know that!” Cuphead said almost proudly.

A sudden question entered my mind. Why did he care? He’d really gone out of his way to tell me I was being an idiot. The fact was that I’d only ever avoided or been rude to him since I’d met him.

It struck me all at once.

This guy had a softer heart than I’d realized. Hidden underneath all the prickliness and intimidation _he cared_ . _A lot._ He cared enough to see someone else who felt guilt and try to change their way of thinking. And he was right about Bendy and the others. Because they cared the same way.

“They would,” I whispered, almost more puzzled than before. Then my mind shot back to a time when the cupman had confronted me before. When he’d told me to be careful for my own safety. He did care. Cuphead was full of contradictions that I didn’t understand. Cruel, yet sensitive. Blunt, yet careful. Guarded, yet a guardian. There was something more to them both.

“So, then you better do what I cussing did. You make it up to them,” Cup continued with resolve. “You live your life. You figure out how to cussing smile and laugh again, and you help them any way you can.”

That sounded like personal experience if I’d ever heard it. But the fact was that I still wasn’t sure where to go from here. I was lost. Then again. I’d been lost before. But Aspen Lee May had taught me what to do. ‘Just take five minutes. You don’t have to think hard. Pick the easiest job and do it. Then, pick the next easiest. And pretty soon you can do anything.’

I looked up at the two of them and once again was put in wonder at why they would care. They’d done a lot to help me. So had Bendy, and Alice, and everyone. So, I had to try.

“You’re right.” Just one step at a time. Determined to show my commitment, I pushed myself up, feeling a new vigor, a new energy, a new...fatigue. Halfway to standing, my head spun, and I ended up back on the ground again. Well, so much for a triumphant beginning.

The both of them extended a hand. I couldn’t help the small smile that formed as I took them both, ignoring the wave of pain that inevitably came from my shoulder. Mugman tutted. “Golly, you should probably go get more rest. You look pale Holly.”

Yeah. More rest. After being unconscious most of the week. That was a thing. That would probably happen soon. But not now. “I’d honestly prefer to stay awake for as long as I can at this point.” Which, _at this point_ , wouldn’t be long.

The next second, a streak of black whizzed in front of me, and Cuphead was tackled to the ground. “Hey, you schmuck!” Bendy growled. “What the hell is wrong with you! Is your brain cracked? What low-life kidnaps a sick girl? Huh? Huh! You have some nerve, you creep!” Bendy stood on the cupman, pinning him to the ground with a foot between the shoulderblades. “I don’t think I can be friends with such a disgusting palooka!”

Said ‘disgusting palooka’ growled and swiped at the demon, who easily jumped to avoid him. “I said I was helping. Are you deaf or something? Do you even have ears?”

I should probably try to clear that up. “Bendy?” I spoke out, but the demon didn’t seem to hear. I was too quiet. Applesauce.

“You don’t!” Bendy shot a finger at him. “You are the cussing worst when it comes to listening! You pile of stardust! You sunblazing moron!”

Alice, Boris, and a cat came sprinting up as the cupman defended himself from Bendy. “Oh yeah? Well you’re the little pipsqueak that has only been moping around, because you think you gave the tree princess permanent brain damage! FYI, she seems fine ta me!” _Brain damage?_ No! That wasn’t true. My head was just a little...mixed up. And it wouldn't be permanent. Right?

“You can’t just make that call, you cussing idiot!” Bendy growled, and I felt the hairs on my arms go up as his eyes turned red. Snowball, who I had somehow completely forgotten in all the chaos, ducked into a fold of my blanket to hide. “And who did you call a microscope bean sprout!”

“I didn’t say that, you cussing moron!” Cuphead snarled back.

I really needed to explain the head thing at least. “Bendy,” I tried again. No luck.

I exchanged a look with Mugman. He looked chagrined. Then, he put two fingers to his mouth and gave a loud whistle. “Would both you idiots shut up! Stars, you’re giving me a headache, and Holly already isn’t feeling good.”

Oh thank goodness. Maybe I could get a word in now. Bendy turned quickly, his expression apologetic. “Holly! I am so sorry! Did these schmucks do anything? You know Cuphead is a moron! Anything he said means nothing! You’re a real friend, Holly. Honest. None of us blame you for anything.”

All of a sudden I remembered why I’d been avoiding going outside as a wave of panic rushed over me. I took a breath, pulling myself back. It was too late to speak however, because Cuphead jumped in the next second. “Who you calling a moron, and what the hell do you actually think I said, idiot!”

The demon growled, grabbing Cuphead’s shirt and yanking him forward, ready to hit him again. “You, you moron! You can’t just cussing push people around!”

“Bendy!” Boris tried.

“Cup!” Mugs warned.

“ _That’s enough._ ” The sound echoed loud enough that I had to cover my ears and lean against Mugman to stay standing. It was Alice.

The two of them jumped a part like they’d both been burned, shaken expressions on their faces.

“Sorry,” they muttered in unison.

Well, this was a nice quiet moment to finally get something said. “He didn’t lie. He only tried to help.” Now that the commotion had been settled I realized that I was standing in front of most of the people I had been avoiding for the past week and somehow I had managed to not panic yet. The barest of hopes rose within me. 

Then I took a closer look and saw the bandages. Bendy was covered in bandages. Chest. Arms. One on his face. I had to look away from him a little to squash another rush of panic that rose from within me.

“You sure?" Bendy asked. "Are you going to be okay, Holly?”

I flicked my eyes back up and tried to keep the smile. I could be strong. I could. “I think? At least, I know what to do now. A-and you shouldn’t blame yourself about my memory. I think it has something to do with my talent and bits have been coming back.” Bendy gave me a look that told me he didn't entirely believe me, but didn't reply. A silence fell.

It was broken by the cat. “Well, if that’s all, I think we can get back to the apartment and be a bit more comfortable, agreed?” he offered, still panting from all the running.

I stared at him. He kept on showing up. Was he a friend of Bendy's or something? But he seemed so relaxed. Like he was comfortable with the group. Not that hyper awareness of a new person. Maybe he had just shown up in the recent days? During my memory gap?

I was distracted again as Alice came over. Other things happened after that. I'm too exhausted to write much about it at this point though. How am I going to go out and make up for what I've done this way? It's morning, but I'm so tired already. I thought it would be easier to write first. I guess not. Thinking might be just as hard as getting up and doing.

But to summarize people talked. Cuphead got upset when Alice asked him if he was okay. I did wonder about that. The more I get to know the cupman, the more I get the sense that there's a lot going on in his head. He doesn't upset easily. Not unless you touch a real nerve. The thing I find funny is that as far as I recall...which isn't very well at this point...Cuphead wasn't talking to anyone. I wonder what he was thinking about that could upset him so much?


	81. Sunday, November 13th (Part One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that the journal has taken a dip in regularity. With work and grad school and so many other things, I have had so little extra time. The hardest part is editing, honestly. I hate self-editing. Anyways, I have a goal of getting back to a weekly Wednesday post, so expect the next one at least by then! :D

I woke up early today.

Another memory came to me in my sleep. I was sitting in an office covered in vines...waiting, patiently. I was pondering something. I rolled a watch in my finger.

I blinked.

A watch?

I stared at the ceiling, counting the number of swirls in the paint. 

* * *

 

A breath of air had drifted through the room. Above the sharp crackle of the fire coming from the closet, I heard the creak of a hinge. My head snapped towards the door. A second later, I sensed it. There was something there. I yanked on my magic, revealing the mouse a bare second after he yanked the Bendy doll from the closet. Then, I summoned the rune next to him, slamming the little rat against the far wall.

I sucked in a hiss of breath and a wide smile creased my lips. “So you _were_ the one who told them, Mickey.” The words slid out of my lips like the words to a song. All high pitched and off key.

Mickey struggled, his hand tight around the doll even as sparks burned his glove. He glared at me with a determined look. His eyes glanced down at himself and the door, then back to me.

Oh? So he thought he could just run away with _my_ doll? I reached out, the rune flashing to life, putting pressure on his silent windpipes. Just snap it like a stick. Then, no more problem. Enough playing with the mouse. It was time for dinner.

His hand raised and something came flying at me.

My hold on the magic loosened as the pail of fire hurted past my face. It hit the desk, lighting it on fire.

He ran for the door and managed to get out.

I jerked up and a flare of pain ran through me as the burn from that Crackhead seared my shoulder, making my head spin. It wouldn’t heal for some reason. “ _RUN LITTLE MOUSE!_ ” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “ _WHEN THIS IS DONE, I’LL FIND YOU AND KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE SWEET LITTLE NEPHEWS AND NIECES OF YOURS IN FRONT OF YOUR CHEEKY FACE.”_

The cog whirled to life as I surged towards him. Something thunked to the ground. I felt a pull. The dragon. The angel had killed it.

Which meant she would be feeling very weak now. I hesitated as the mouse's tail disappeared around a corner.

I straightened. Fine. He was safe for now. The angel was more important.

I smiled. Time to test my obsidian. 

* * *

 

My memory fades there. It’s a good thing too, because it made me want to curl up into a ball and force my mind blank. But I’d promised to try.

So instead of crawling back in bed, I sat up in bed and looked out the window, trying to press down the wave of nausea that the memory had brought me. I had to keep a hold of my faculties. I couldn't have a panic attack. I leaned over and pressed a hand against my forehead. I-couldn’t-have-a-panic-attack. I needed to do things today. I took a deep breath, arms crossed over my middle, eyes closed as I listened to the nearby sound of construction. When I finally regained a bit of my sanity, I looked out the window. The rubble that had been on the street before had been cleared away. Now, there was just a gaping hole in the building across the street.

I got up, dressed, and wandered out into the kitchen. It was still early.

Might as well make the best of it.

I pulled out bread and eggs and started to make french toast. Whisk the eggs. Put in the cinnamon, sugar, and milk. Dip the bread. Cook it all.

As the soggy bit of bread sizzled on the hot pan, I stared blankly at it, the spatula hovering. Sizzling.

The doll hanging over a fire.

Bringing it closer to the flames for the thrill.

I sucked in a sudden breath and flinched.

Focus on now. Focus on now. What could I do now? I swallowed and flipped the bread, noticing with a little irritation that it was a bit burned. I could eat that one.

What could I do? I started to make a mental list of everyone I knew who had been directly harmed. Or that I’d at least tried to harm.

Cuphead

Mugman

Bendy

Boris

Mickey

Cala

Alice

Felix

Wiston

Xedo

Pete

And...I cringed with nervousness, Black Hat.

What had I been thinking trying to poison him?

And these were just the people that had been involved in the incident. My eyes couldn’t help but wander back towards the window. And the people who lived there? The people who worked at the buildings that had been destroyed?

I sniffed. I smelt...burning. Oh applesauce!

I looked down at the charred piece of bread. With a sigh, I scraped the remains of the burnt french toast off the pan. It was a mess. I groaned with frustration and took the pan to the sink, washing it. When it was clean, I dried it and set it back on the stove for a second attempt.

I had said I wanted to go back to work, wanted to apologize to Betty. Alice had insisted that I take more time to rest though and added that Betty felt the same way. I’m not sure what Alice told her had happened, to be honest.

My second attempt ended better than the first. I finished eating and waited a bit longer for Cala to wake up. Soon, I got restless, though. I covered the french toast with a plate and wrote a note, leaving it on top.

_Cala,_

_I needed some air, so I decided to go on an early morning walk. I’ll be back soon. The french toast is for you._

I opened the front door and stepped out into, breathing in the cold morning air. Just then, there was a squeak, and Snowball latched onto my shoulder tightly. I blinked at her. She gave me a look that dared me to tell her to go back inside.

Unwilling to argue with a rodent smaller than my fist who seemed to view me as needing supervision, I moved down the steps to the first floor quickly. Snowball climbed the rest of the way up my shoulder and scurried just barely down the back of my shirt where she huddled, trying to keep warm in the winter air.

The question still itched in my mind. How could I even start to make it up to them? 

Down the road a bit, I arrived at the park. All the webbing was gone now. Unfortunately, most of the trees were too. But this wasn’t where I needed to be either. So, I kept walking. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was looking for.

Should I go to Mickey’s and apologize?

That didn’t totally feel right.

Was I going to the house to see everyone?

No, that wasn’t it either.

Did I need to go visit Wiston and Xedo before the fox left for work?

I honestly wasn’t sure.

So, I just continued to walk. The cracked pavement and sound of construction kept me vigilant as I walked.

I passed Daisey’s shop.

Lamp posts, cars, buildings, anything in the road had been smashed. The front of Daisey’s shop was a wide open space where a door and window had used to be. Flowers, herbs, ribbons, cards all littered the street in front of the shop.

I looked like something had just burrowed its way from inside the building. I could only guess what. A giant snake maybe?  

I picked up as many cards that I could find that didn’t look too bad and set them in a stack on the counter just inside the door. I should come and help Daisy clean up the shop. But not now.

I continued to wander.

After a short bit of time, I knew where I was going. I saw bits of dead vines everywhere long before I got close to the building. Amazonian chokers. I cringed at the barbs on the ends. Some had dark spots on them. Whatever poor soul had been hurt by it, I hoped they were recovering.

By the time I got about two blocks down from the building I was looking for, it was almost impossible to walk. There were vines as large as tree trunks. They covered all bare floor. But hard exercise felt good right now, so I continued to climb. It took me maybe thirty minutes to reach the spot where the realtor’s agency had once stood.

I could still make out what was left of the plant's mouth. It’s sharp teeth were still whole and glistening with malicious intent even after being burned. There were legends that said the plant had been made by a world eater, that if it was grown big enough, long enough, the thing could swallow cities, nations whole. It just needed the time. I swallowed. Farther back, I saw the remains of a Hydra. Gouged to death from the look of it. It was riddled with gash marks. What a horrid way to die. I hummed nervously, my stomach twisting.

Why was I here?

I didn’t know, but something pressed me on. I climbed over what had once been the lobby entrance and continued to climb farther into the crumbling, ashy ruins.

Almost without thinking, I started to dig through the rubble. My shirt, skirt, and arms were now covered in ash. I would look a complete mess when I headed back. I paused with a sigh and resisted the urge to put my hand over my face. I was ashy enough. This was ridiculous, disconcerting, and made no sense.

The strangeness of it reminded me a little too much of the cog. I would have none of it. I stood up, trying to wearily brush off whatever ash I could before I headed back to the entrance.

That’s when something glinted in the middle of the blackness.

I paused and drew in a breath as I leaned down to move the remains of a cabinet door and pick up the small metal object that had caught my eye.

A watch.

It was covered in ash, engraved I guessed, but I couldn’t make much out under the layers of black. It looked...familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.

I shivered, disliking the inkling of a memory unsummoned. I wrapped it in my handkerchief and slid it in my bag before continuing my trek back away from the wrecked building.

By the time I got past the hundreds of vines covering the nearby streets, I was swaying with tiredness. So much for helping Daisey clean up her shop.

I reached a small cafe and collapsed into one of their chairs, putting my head on a table and closing my eyes. I could sleep for a short moment here, right?

I had almost fallen asleep when I heard a voice. “Holly? Holly is that you! Are you okay!” A hand touched my shoulder.

Fire seared up my shoulder and neck, and I gasped, sitting up like a rod had just been rammed into my spine. I jerked away, biting back a groan of pain. It was Finley.  

“Oh stars, I’m sorry!” he gasped, his hands half raised, hanging uncertainly in the air.

I hummed in pain, gripping my elbow as I waited for the wave to subside. I smiled at him. “It’s okay, Fin,” I said through gritted teeth. Then, when it got a little better. “What are you doing here?”

“Dropped off some meds to the cookoo bird,” Finley said with a frown, his huge ears fell. “Whadda ‘bout you? Why are you covered in dirt and sleepin’ at a table? Is something wrong at the apartment?”

I shook my head. “No, never. Not when literal and figurative angels live there.” I rubbed the point of my elbow to distract myself from the pain still seething through my arm in waves. “I just needed to think. So I went out. It’s what I do when I need to think.” I sighed. “Then I got carried away and exhausted myself.”  

He chuckled. “What? No pressure to be perfect or anything, right? I would be intimidated to live with an angel myself.” He rubbed his snout with a thumb.

I smiled weakly. “Perfect? I’m so far from perfect right now that I could probably be a poster child for the all natural woman, ashes included as a dramatic touch.” The sarcasm slipped through without my intending it to.

Finley grinned, showing his fangs. “Boy! That has to be quite a living situation! An angel, a ‘natural woman’, and a...well, monster all in one apartment.” He stuck his hands in his pockets. “If I didn’t know you gals myself, I would think war was on its way.” He chuckled. “What a world.”

I raised a brow. “Says the guy living with a demon, two cup assassins, a mad scientist, and a movie star.”

“True. Both sound like the beginning of comedy act. I should think on that.” He smirked and pulled a hand free to rub his chin. That made me give a short laugh. “Politically shocking and truly hilarious. Shoot, I don’t even have to write anything! Just look at all of us! The material writes itself! I’ll have to tell Sammy this!” He got more animated as he talked.

That really made me laugh, and I covered my mouth a moment later. “Is Sammy a writer?”

Finley’s face lit up. “Oh yes! He is great! He has a little note book he hides all his personal junk in. Poetry, reflections, descriptions. It’s amazing! And he is so embarrassed about it! I talked him into writing our skits. I’m sure if he got the confidence, he could get published easy! You should get him talking on classical books. You’ll see what I mean.”

I blinked. “Oh? I should do that then. I love books.” I paused and then considered. “If he’s the writer, does that mean you're the actor?”

Finley grinned and shrugged. “What can I say? I put on a good show. Just wish taking it on the road woulda gone a bit smoother.”

“You should put on one for the group sometime. I know I’d like to see you both in action.” This felt nice. Talking to Finley, not thinking about much other than normal things like books and skits and funny things. It brought me a bit of peace to hold onto. Finley had a talent for putting me at ease, I’d noticed. I liked his honest demeanor, which helped me relax.

“Absolutely! We put on a show for Snow some time back! She’s recommending us to some people! Things are starting to move.” Finley grinned proudly. “Of course, all my pals here get a private show before we become top tier famous!”

I raised a brow and put my good elbow on the table. “Just don’t forget about us poor mundanes when your walking the black carpet and swimming in gold or something.” The smallest smirk formed.

He mock gasped. “Forget ya! Doll, if I’m walkin’ a carpet, I’m hopin’ you could be my plus one! I’d need a ritzy gal for it, and you need more fun in your life. Somethin’ borin’ and calm like a grande carpet event. Maybe my first big blockbustin’ movie?” Finley wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

I smothered the urge to laugh. Instead, I framed my face with my hands. “You’ll have the part of a debonaire spy who stops the mobsters, no doubt. I’ll have to pick out my nicest dress. What do you think of ash? Is it a good look?” I purposely smeared a couple lines down the sides of my cheeks.

Finley laughed. “Doll, you could wear rags and give Snow a run for her money.”

That made me blush. I cleared my throat, trying to brush the ash off my cheeks but most likely just making it worse.

Finley chuckled. “Here, let me help.” He hopped in the chair next to mine and lifted a gloved hand. “If it’s okay.”

I nodded, my cheeks still hot. He reached over to my face and brushed his thumbs over my cheeks. “Boy, you are a mess. Why you covered in ash anyway? Trying out for a Santa Claus position next month?” He pulled his hands back with a smile. “There we are! Clear as can be without water.” His gloved were now smeared with dark marks.

I let out a breath, allowing my cheeks to cool. “Thanks. And no. I was going for Santa’s little helper. Less breaking and entering lawsuits there.” Finley snorted. I paused. “I just went to visit the realtor place...You know, the one that burned down in all this mess.”  

“Ah.” The fox nodded. “You didn’t lose anything in there, did you?” Just my innocence and peace of min--Oh wait, that was before.

I shook my head. “No…” I trailed off when I remembered the watch. “Actually, I found something while I was there.” I leaned over and pulled the handkerchief and watch out of my bag. “Does this look familiar to you?”

Finley frowned. “No, not really.” He scratched his ear.

I hummed. “For some reason, it looks familiar to me.” I slid it back into my bag. Once again that little sprinkling of uneasiness ran through me. I hated it. I hated not remembering.

“Hmm, memory problems?” Finley asked. “I remember hearing about it from the others.”

I nodded. I put the palm of my hand on my forehead. “I’m not even sure what I forgot, what I sort of remember, or what’s just a nightmare at this point. I think it might be coming back. A few memories have. But it’s just disturbing, honestly.”

Finley nodded. “Honestly, I think it’s about time you forget a few things. Be like the rest of us mere mortals and dig around for a notecard for once.” He smiled. That made me blink. “Look, the past is ashes, just like the building. Whether ya remember or not, there isn’t much you can do about it. You only got the now. So, live in it.” He shrugged.

I considered his words. Forget? Yes, it was ashes, but forget? I’d spent a lot of time in my head over the years. To study, to relive moments I liked, to help here. But just being in the 'now' felt good...now. I nodded slowly and smiled. “You give good advice, Fin. I should try that.”

Finley shrugged again and hopped off the chair. “Just passing wisdom on. Nothin’ to it.” He smiled. “Well, would you do me the honor to allow me to escort you home?” I nodded.  “You can nap all you want there and wait for Alice to catch up.” Finley pursed his lips. “Though, she might drop by the house first with Bendy. I can walk you there if you want that instead.”

I frowned. “Passing by the house with Bendy? I thought she was at work?”

Finley pulled a confused face, his snout scrunched up and his brows furrowed together. “Work? No. She went with Bendy to--Oh.” His face fell with apparent understanding and then he grimaced. “Oh starfallen--Alice!” he sounded exasperated.

My frown deepened as a spark of fear ran through me. What was Alice doing? Something she was keeping from me on purpose? That didn’t sound like her. “Finley.” My eyes bore into him. “What are Alice and Bendy off doing?”

“Calm down.” Finley lifted his hands. “They went together, and they’ll be back in no time. I’m sure of it! Alice was sure of it! Besides, if anything happens, Felix and those cups are ready to storm the castle and all that.”

That didn’t sound encouraging. “That doesn’t answer my question,” I replied softly, trying to calm the tone of my voice.

Finley sighed. “You are going to freak out,” he said plainly. “And there is nothing to freak out about.”

“Am I going to freak out any more than I would be sitting here imagining all sorts of terrible things because I don’t know?” I countered.

“You’re going to imagine things either way,” he muttered under his breath, his ears falling. Definitely not encouraging. “I get why she didn’t say anything, but boy is this stardust being the one that has to say! C’mon Alice!” he grumbled.

I stood up, my legs a bit shaky now that I’d had a bit to rest them. “If you won’t tell me, I’ll go ask Boris.”

“They went to Black Hat!” Finley said quickly.

Surprise ran through me and unconsciously I sank back into my chair. “What?” A shiver ran down my spine. “Why?”

Finley grimaced again and ran his hands over his head and ears. “Oh man! I am the wrong guy for this I’m tellin’ ya,” he groaned. “So, they had ta make a dealy-o to get him to help us. It was something about a trade off with Alice and a chat with Bendy. Neither of them seemed that bothered by it so…” He shrugged helplessly. Neither of them seemed that bothered by it...?!? What the horsefeathers did that mean?? And why was he so relaxed about it too!

I frowned. “A deal to get him to help?” It was a true sign of how slow my mind was running, because I stared at him in confusion for about thirty seconds, and I still couldn’t come up with an answer.

Finley raised his brows. “For Nightmare Night. It was supposed to be Hat, not Bendy, in your head.” The fox glanced away. “Since he knows how heads and souls work better and all.”

I stared at him. They’d had to make a deal with _Hat_ to stop me? Hat would have been in my _head_? Fury at myself, then fear, then a wave of overwhelming anxiety washed over me all at once. I put my hands on my head and hunched over my legs, trying to breathe. Breathe. Be in the moment.

“And this is why she didn’t tell you! Great! I have messed up!” Finley lamented.

My hands shook. “I’m fine, Finley” I gasped out, trying to search for the threads of a sanity I’d had a hold on just a minute ago. “Just give me a moment.”

“You are a lot of things, Holly May, and _fine_ is not one of them!” Finley pointed at me. “Now listen. They will be okay! Alice swore they would be okay.” Yeah, well Alice may be an angel but she can't tell the future!

That's right. Alice. Bendy. I sat up, but winced in pain as the movement stretched my burn again. I looked at Finley. “When did they leave? How long have they been gone?” I tried my best to sound calm, but it was shaky. Stupid emotions.

Finley frowned. “This morning and part of it is that _no one follows them.”_ Finley crossed his arms. “We had to practically tie Cuphead and Mugman down to stop them. Don’t make me tie you down too!”

Ha! I could hardly take a walk! Even if he weren’t set up to stop me, I was practically useless. No magic, no memory. Pointless. But for some reason, I still itched to get up, call a taxi, something. I wanted to try. I swallowed, narrowing my eyes. “You actually tied them down?” Somehow, that was the first thing that came out of my mouth.

Finley frowned and crossed his arms. “Don’t even think about it. It was a group effort!” He looked away. “Okay, so it was mostly Felix, but I and Granny helped!” He poked his chest with his thumb.

I blinked owlishly at him. Well, that had taken most reasoning thoughts out of my head. “Then can we go to the house?” Felix? Who was Felix and how had he been able to take down the _Cup brothers?_ Maybe Alice and Bendy would already be back. Hopefully. If not...I would try to free them.

“Yes, we can...just don’t do anything crazy. Please,” Finley said and offered her his arm.

I gave a low, tired sigh. I thought I’d been tired before, but now after all the emotion...I felt like my body was all weighed down with stone. “Alright.” Untying a person wasn't considered crazy, right? Tying up a person was crazy. I took his arm, and we started to walk. The walk back to Granny’s seemed to take a thousand years. A couple times, I actually started to doze on my feet, and Finley had to shake me awake. However, I wrestled myself back to awareness as we finally reached the door.

When Finley opened it, it was a wall of noise and a heavy feeling rolled over me. My determination relaxed, and I found myself staring at the door wondering why I had been worried a second ago. Bendy was a demon. Alice was an angel. They would be fine. (Writing this later, I'm certain something's wrong with the house. This stinks of the cog.)

“It’s lunch now! Cussing let us go! It’s been cussing hours!” Cuphead snapped. I turned my head and followed the sound.

“We can sneak in and just check! C’mon, Mr. Felix! You can’t let Black Hat do whatever he wants!” Mugman added. The two of them were tied to dining room chairs that had been moved to the front room. Red was leaning against the room entrance, a very satisfied smile on her face. The cat that had been here since I woke up sat on the couch with Boris and Granny next to him. All three of them seemed a little dead.

I wandered into the room and stared. Well, there went all hope that someone had been sensible and followed Bendy and Alice to the casino. Oh well.

Boris sat tensely between the adults. He kept glancing at the cat and then the Cupbros. The cat looked annoyed. Granny just looked tired.

“Oh Finley!” she perked up. “And Holly! What a nice surprise! We haven’t seen you around here in awhile! Let me bring you a drink. Tea or lemonade dear?” Granny stood up.

I smiled at her. “Thank you Granny. Tea please,” I said automatically. I glanced at the door. Then I glanced at Mugman. Couldn’t he...poof? Why wasn’t he poofing?

“What happened to your...poof?” That sounded amazingly doltish. Ugh.

Mugs frowned. They both went quiet. The cat tensed.

“Holly! I told you not to try anything!” Finley facepalmed himself.

I shrugged at him. “If he could poof, he would have poofed long before I asked.”

Mugs sighed. “Doesn’t work when I feel trapped,” he muttered under his breath.

Cup groaned and dropped his head back. “This is so cussing dumb! Remove the starfallen ropes and let us go!”

I eyed the ropes, considering trying just that. It had been my plan. But Finley was watching me carefully.

“Um, why are covered in dirt?” Boris asked me sheepishly.  

I looked down. I really needed to change. “I walked into a burnt building.”

That finally quieted the room. “You said burnt, right? Not burning,” Mugs asked.

“Oh stars, we don’t need something like that right now. We already have two idiots strolling into hell!” Cup sighed.

I scowled at Cuphead. “No, not burning,” I answered Mugman. “I just...took a walk to that building that burned down on Nightmare night.” I let out a heavy sigh and slumped into a nearby chair. We didn’t have time for this. How long had Alice and Bendy been gone now? Half the day?

The room stayed quiet. The cat and Boris shared a concerned look. Really. Who was this cat? And why was he so close to Boris? Cup was the one to break it. “Uh-huh. Why? Did ya remember somethin’?” His face was boredom and annoyance.

Why was I getting the third degree from someone tied to a dining room chair?

“And that’s your business?” Red snipped at him. He gave her an annoyed look.

“Don’t you have patients to go serve or something?” He narrowed his eyes. “You’ve been enjoying this way too much.”

“What can I say? I like karma,” Red said with a dark smirk.

I sighed as they talked, looking at Finley. “Do you know how long we’re going to wait before we go looking for them?”  

“They have ‘til dinner,” Finley said.

“Then we’ll go see,” Felix added and turned to the brothers. “And not before that.” Both of them scowled.

“C’mon guys. Don’t you trust Alice? She said it would be fine,” Boris said weakly.

“No offense to the dame, but she’s already been caught by the mook once already,” Cup said flatly. He had a point.

“It’s just how Hat is! He doesn’t do anything without it profiting him in some way.” Mugs shrugged.

“Well, Alice is charging that thingamajig or whatever for him. Isn’t that pay enough?” Boris asked.

“No,” they said together. The wolf’s ears dropped.

“Maybe it would be clearer if you told us what you thought he was after?” the cat suggested. He still looked annoyed. They must have been arguing for hours now.

“Their souls? Enslavement?” Cup suggested. Boris sunk lower in his seat. Well, that was really encouraging.

“Deals. Favors,” Mugs added with a nod.

“Torture,” Cup grumbled. “Something they’d never want to do.” I tensed. This was terrible.  

“Power,” they said at the same time and looked at each other for a moment. Something seemed to pass between them.

Mugs looked back at them. “He loves using people to do his dirty work. If he can make someone a weapon, he will.”

“Is that what he did to the two of you?” the cat suddenly asked. He leaned forward and laced his fingers under his chin, his elbows on his knees. Mugs startled. Cup straightened before he glared at the cat.

“None of your business,” Cup said coldly. That made me wonder what exactly was the nature of the relationship between these two and Hat. Why would a demon be raising them in the first place?

“Oh, but I think it is,” the cat said, his ears dropping. “If you two know demons so well, maybe you can help Bendy.”

That brought them up short. “Uh?” Mugs muttered. Boris ears perked too.

“What do you mean Mr. Felix?” Boris asked curiously. I turned and look. So, his name was Mr. Felix then.  _That_ Mr. Felix. What _did_ he mean by that?

“Well, Bendy struggles with his powers and such, correct? If you two are so versed in how a demon fights or acts, you should be able to help him, right?” Mr. Felix asked with a knowing smile.

I suspected this was a distraction on his part to get them to stop trying to escape. This fellow was clever. I glanced at the door with worry again.

“We ain’t demons, pal. We don’t do all that crazy dark magic.” Cup scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Oh, that’s too bad.” He sighed and leaned back. Granny finally came back with my tea and a lemonade for Boris.

I smiled at her and touched her arm. I hadn’t been very focused on her when she’d talked to me earlier. “Thank you, Granny.”

“Sure thing, dearie.” She smiled warmly.

“What about us Granny?” Mugs asked.

The gopher frowned. “When you two start behaving, and we can untie you, I’ll consider it.” Tough Granny.

Mugs pouted. Red laughed and walked out of the room. Cuphead scowled in the direction she disappeared before he dropped his head in resignation.

After that, I ended up dozing somehow. One minute I was staring out the window, the next, I woke to an ache in the back of my neck. The room had emptied. I heard Granny talking to Boris and Mr. Felix in the kitchen softly. The two cup assassins were still tied to the chairs. Mugs was asleep. Cup was fiddling with his bindings with a bored look on his face. I was pretty sure if they were really desperate, they could get out. I hoped that meant that they held some hope for Bendy and Alice.  

“Oh, sleeping beauty is awake.” Cup chuckled. I sighed at my appearance. More like cinderella. “You sleep like a rock. No one could wake you.”

I gave him a weary smile. “Only when I feel like a rock. I suppose it’s appropriate. How is the escape going?”

Cup groaned. “That cat is pro at cussing knots,” he huffed and fiddled a bit more. He sighed and then chuckled. “Ya know, if it was any other place, I’d accuse those two of going off on a date and ditching us. That Felix is in on it and doesn’t want me to find out those two are actually lovebirds.” He chuckled.

I blinked. “Huh? Why do you think that?”

He looked up and raised a brow. “What? You don’t think so? I mean you--” His eyes widened. “Oh wait! You were off on that cussing cog so you _don’t_ know!” He laughed. “Oh man! That’s great! It was all your fault it happened too!”

I was getting tired of the twinge of guilt that happened every time someone said the word ‘cog.’ I didn’t even know what he was talking about. “What?” I persisted. “What was my fault?”

He laughed again. “During that sleeping beauty spell. Bendy kissed Alice.” He snickered.

What? My shoulders fell and my eyes widened.

“I mean, Alice and Snow had to kiss everyone to wake us up. But it was those chaste things, little more than the back of the hand, ya know? But then, half-awake Bendy just turned and full on kissed her!” He chuckled. “She was so surprised! Her face! It was so cussing funny!”

My jaw dropped. “Bendy _kissed_ Alice?” And I hadn’t been there to see it? I couldn’t help myself. I leaned forward.   

“He had no cussing clue either! He fell out of bed and was so confused! It was amazing!” Cup laughed again. “I am treasuring those expressions for the rest of my life. Oh and Alice! Her face was so dark! I thought she was going to combust!”

Without meaning to, I smiled. “And you think they like each other?”

“Do I!” Cup’s smile was ruthful. “It’s so obvious it’s ridiculous!” He sighed and chuckled. “If they didn’t have so many cussing issues, they’d be an item by now for sure.”

Why hadn’t I seen this before? Actually, had I? With my memories so mixed up, I wasn’t sure. But Alice was exceptionally jumpy around Bendy. And Bendy always did seem to pay attention to everything she did… “My goodness, you’re right,” I whispered.

“And those days you weren’t around for after. Bendy was being so cussing obnoxious with his pickups and flirting.” Cup rolled his eyes. “It was cussing painful to watch, H. I had to intervene before someone killed him. He’d flirt with any dame, with a few exceptions.” Cup smirked knowingly. “Snow White, Cala, Granny, any dame that was an item, right?” He tilted his head. “And for some reason, Alice was on that list too. Wonder why that is?”

He’d figured that all out just by watching? I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re frighteningly perceptive.”

Cup shrugged. Or tried to, at least. “Watching people is a hobby, and I get bored. What can I say? Habits are easy to pick up on, and people are easy to read.”

Did that mean he knew how he affected people? That same doubt about him and his brother came creeping to the surface. I had to admit, after the events of the past few days I was reluctant to continue to act on my suspicions of them. They’d only been nice. Well, other than the kidnapping. But then again. I hadn’t found any proof against the fact that these two were lying.

I leaned back and pushed away the thought. I was too tired to try and puzzle it out. “You’re a funny fellow.”

He snorted. “That coming from you? I’m taking it as a compliment.” He paused and the smile fell a bit. “And you really should give that noodle of yours a break. I think the stress is messin’ with ya.”

I laughed. “That’s like asking me not to breathe. It’s probably why I’m so tired all the time. The only time I can stop thinking is when I’m asleep.” I shook my head. “Thanks for the sentiment, though. I’m trying to take things easier.”

“Do. You were looking at Felix like he was an alien. Or a math problem.” Cup sounded half joking.

I huffed. “Well, of course. I don’t know anything about him. And everyone’s been acting so casual with him that I’ve been afraid to ask. Did he show up during Nightmare Night?”

Cuphead laughed. “Good one.” Mugs groaned, and his eyes fluttered open. Cup’s laugh trailed off when I didn’t join him. “You’re joking, right?”

I frowned at him. “Why would I joke about Nightmare Night?” Why would I be joking at all?

“Oh cuss, you’re serious.” His good mood dropped like a rock. Mine went with it.


	82. Sunday, November 13th (Part Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yey! Late, but here! I've been on a trip to figure out housing for my schooling for the last two days, which has been both enlightening and terrifying. Moving is the terrifying part. Wow. Anyways, enjoy this part! XD

“Whazz’ goin’ on?” Mugs slurred and yawned.

“She doesn’t remember the cat, Muggsy,” Cup told him. Why would I? I frowned at both of them.

“Felix?” Mugs asked, still half asleep. “But I thought he was her favorite.” He blinked and looked between him and me with blurry eyes.

I blinked. “Huh?”

“Holy cuss, I am actually explaining this. Okay then.” Cup looked baffled before shaking his head and focusing on me. “Felix is this big time adventurer. He has books out that nerds like you and Bendy adore for some starfallen reason. He does, uh, what the hell was it called?”

“Treasure hunting?” Mugs suggested.

“Yeah, but it had a fancy name to it.” Cup hummed.

“...Archeology?” I said slowly. I raised a hand. “Wait. _I_ adore? But I’ve never heard of him before in my life.”

“Wait. _What!”_ Mugs snapped awake and jumped. His chair clacked on the floor with the motion. I stared at him. Why were they acting like this was a big thing?

“Oh. Bendy is going to be so ticked when he finds out he erased one of your favorite book nerd authors,” Cup muttered under his breath.

“So, she has forgotten me. I was wondering,” Felix said from the doorway. I frowned, turning toward the cat. His words felt surreal, and I didn’t know how to respond.

“What?” Boris stuck his head from behind him.

He came into the room and sat down. “Holly. I’ve been here as long as the Cup brothers have. When I first spoke to you, it was about me joining the questers and if it was going to be in my next novel,” Felix told me gently.

I stared at him, the frown deepening on my face. The cog. This had to be because what had happened. That same uneasy feeling stirred inside of me, sending the wash of anxiety to the surface again. I ignored it. “You did?” Then I...Why? I thought about it hard for a moment. Cuphead had just said _Bendy_ had done it. Did that mean...when...in my head?

“Please calm down, Holly. Breathe,” Felix said. Boris went to my other side. I sucked in a breath. When had I stopped?

“It’s okay Holly. We’ll figure it out. All of us,” Boris promised and put a hand on my shoulder. It was a grounding touch. I nodded weakly at him.

“Bendy is gonna implode,” Cup muttered. Mugs nodded.

Just remember what Finley said. In the present. In-the-present. I sucked in another breath, trying to steady myself. I smiled at the cat. “Well then, Mr. Cat. I guess it’s nice to meet you again?”

“Nice to meet you.” The cat grinned. “I’m Felix the Cat.” He offered me his hand.

I took it uncertainly. “I’m Holly May.”

“And get her the books! She’ll love them!” Cup added. Boris chuckled. I smiled slowly. “Nerds,” Cuphead added.

“You should try them too sometime, Cup!” Boris said. “They really are good.”

Cup snorted. “I ain’t a nerd.”

I looked at Mr. Felix. “What are they about?”

“Oh, just some of the things I did on archeology digs.” Felix scratched the back of his head. I perked up. That sounded interesting.

“You have to read about the fire tiger! And the time he got the sacred scroll back from the Beagle Boys!” Boris told her.

“Beagle Boys?” Cup snickered. “Really?”

“They are a problem in Europe.” Felix shrugged. “And I surely didn’t name them.”

My eyes widened. “You fought against the Beagle Boys?” I couldn’t keep the wonder out of my voice. They were notorious for their work throughout Paris and England and were known for targeting magical items specifically. They had a habit of showing up and then disappearing before anyone had a chance to stop them.

“They may be notorious, but they aren’t all that clever.” Felix shrugged.

“...That’s amazing!” We all talked a while after that. I asked Mr. Felix a lot of questions. As a person, he was still a stranger but a little less so. I was going to look for his books and read them. Maybe that would make things better.

To everyone’s relief, an hour or so before sunset, Alice and Bendy walked through the door. They gave the room one look over, and Bendy doubled over laughing as he pointed at Cuphead and Mugman. Alice seemed somewhere between amused and concerned.

“I don’t know what the cuss is going on, but it’s berries!” Bendy said between gasps.

“Bendy! Alice! You’re okay!” Boris jumped up and hugged Bendy.

“You doubted us?” Bendy asked with a teasing huff.

I stumbled out of my chair and walked over to Alice, pulling her into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” I let out a breath of air. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me,” I grumbled.

Alice blushed. “I--You--and it was just--Um.” She ducked her head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to stress you out more than you already are. It was my business anyway.”

I raised a brow at her.  

“How’d that business go? You two still have your souls?” Cup snarked.

Bendy snorted and stepped up to his car. “It went swell. I was invited on a cruise and everything.” Bendy smirked. “A real swell guy that Hat.” There was a edge in his voice.

“Oh, I bet.” Cup’s tone matched his.

“Can we be let go now,” Mugs asked. “My butt’s asleep and my back hurts.”

“But you guys look so good like this.” Bendy snickered.

Felix rolled his eyes and pulled a knife out of his pouch. It only took a couple moments before the two were rubbing their wrists and stretching.

I eyed Alice. Now that it looked like they were okay, I was thinking about what Cup had been saying about Bendy and Alice liking each other again.

Alice gave him an expectant glance. He seemed to ignore it, instead teasing Cup about being a worry-wart.

“So, what happened with you two?” Felix asked.

“Oh, not much. Alice did her little magic thing, and then Hat gave me the demon rules to living on the Surface and some advice.” The last part Bendy stated drily. He waved a file and shrugged. That didn’t sound like the truth.

“That can’t be it.” Cup echoed my thoughts.

“Well, he wants me to sign up for the demon academy of fine horror,” Bendy said.

...The demon academy of horror? Did that mean he was going to teach Bendy all those things about demons he’d been asking about?

Cup snorted. “He try to force ya?”

“The choice is apparently mine.” The demon shrugged. “I need to think about it.”

“Think about it! What’s there to think! He’s scum ya can’t trust!” Cuphead barked.

Bendy frowned. “I know I can’t trust him, but he can help!”

“Help with what! How to be evil!” Cuphead demanded.

“On being a demon!” Bendy snapped back, his eyes flash red. Cup straightened up. Snowball scrambled from the back of the couch and down my shirt. I jumped and squirmed. That  _tickled!_ Bendy took a deep breath. His eyes dimmed. “He knows what I’m going through and how to handle it. I don’t trust him. So, I have to _think,_  okay _mom.”_

That presented a very tricky problem. But, once again, I was still weighed by the heaviness I had felt when I'd entered the house. Despite the fact that Snowball was sitting between my shoulderblades and the couch, I was starting to filter them out.

Cup deadpanned. Mugs popped up between them. “I’d just be careful, Bendy. He wants to use you for something. He always does.” Bendy nodded. I rubbed my eyes. Snowball wiggled up and peeped her nose over my shoulder.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Alice said.

“What!” Cup gaped at her. “Even you?”

Alice shrugged. “None of us know what it’s like to be a demon. To have the powers or instincts of one. If Bendy is struggling with it and Hat is the only one that can help, then he should help. Bendy has enough to deal with as it is.” Alice frowned at him. “And there are things you just can’t muscle through.”

“Thanks Alice,” Bendy muttered. Snowball seemed to give a sigh of relief and settled on my shoulder.

Cup deflated. “Well...Yeah, but…” He sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets. “It’s a load of stardust.”

“I don’t like it either, buddy.” Bendy sighed and put his hands on his hips.

I yawned...I knew I should be more invested in this argument, but I just felt so calm, so empty headed...so...sleepy. I put my head against the back of the chair and started to close my eyes. They continued to talk, but I was hard to focus on the conversation, as I struggled to keep my eyes open.

I dozed again.

When I woke, Red was standing in front of me, hands on hips with a small frown on her painted lips. Alice was next to me. She was looking at me with concern.

“Holly? Are you tired? Do you want to go home?” Alice asked gently.

Red leaned to the side, her hip sticking out. “I say you girls need a night out. Some girl time to relax without all this drama. I’m meeting some friends for drinks and dinner.”

“I don’t, Ms. Hood. Holly looks rather tired,” Alice told her.

“Please, call me Red.” The woman smiled and looked to Holly. “What do you say Holly? How about a night on the town?”

I sat up, bleary eyed. There was something stifling about being here. I didn’t know what. I needed to get out of here. I looked at Red. “I guess. If it’s just dinner and drinks.”

Red smiled. “Then, get something nice on and meet me at the Max Haven Club as soon as you can.” Her smile became teasing. “And make it something ritzy.”

I glanced at Alice. With that, the two of us left, heading home. Being not much of a partygoer, the only ritzy thing I had was the dress Dot had made me when we’d snuck into Hat’s casino. Alice had a simple black dress, knee length with three fourth sleeves. Cala was there and seemed curious. It appeared she wanted to come but didn’t know how to ask.

I looked at my wardrobe, looked at Alice, then, I looked at Cala. “Do you want to come?”

Her eyes grew as large and shiny as Boris’ puppy eyes. “C-can I? I still don’t have clothes of my own. I don’t know if there’s anything for me to wear.”

“I’m sure we can find you something, Cala.” Alice smiled warmly. It took some digging, but eventually we were able to find a nice blouse and flowing skirt. She was curious about Alice’s heels, but the angel gave her flats. I had to approve of that move, the poor girl could hardly stay standing as it was.

“You can try heels when you can run an obstacle course,” Alice told her. That done, we headed out.

The club was on the far end of town, the part that had taken the least amount of damage during Nightmare Night. When we arrived at the club, Red was waiting outside. She wore a slim, knee length dress that hugged her curves, a fluffy white coat that ended at her wrists, and her hair was up in a stylish bun. She folded her arms casually. She was like something out of a movie. I could almost imagine some nice looking fella sweeping her off her feet in a second. But knowing Red, she’d give him a good talking to first.

“There you are! The others are already at the table.” Red waved at us. Alice’s eyes widened at the outfit, then she grinned.

“You look lovely!” Alice told her.

Red smiled and rolled her shoulder. “It’s nice to have an excuse to dress up.” She waved to the door. “But let’s go. Fanny is probably ordering without us.”

The three of us walked inside. It was a large room with circle tables around a dance floor.

Fanny, Dovil, and Betty were sitting at one on the edge of the floor, talking in hushed voices. A thin man at the piano was playing some calm piece as people were eating and talking. A host came up to Red. “May I take your coat, ma’am?”

“Thank you.” Red slid it off to bare her shoulders. She smiled at us. “C’mon.”

We reached the table. Dovil looked up and smiled. “Oh! Red, so they made it! That’s wonderful!” The dove was in a dark dress similar to Red’s. She had long white gloves over her feathered hands.

“Finally.” Fanny sighed. Her white dress tied in the back, exposing her shoulders and back. The skirt was a few inches above her knees.

I smiled at her. “Hi Fanny.”

The rabbit turned to me and looked me up and down. “Ah, Holly May, right? How is your head?”

“Holly! How are you!” Betty jumped out of her seat and hurried over to me. She wrapped me up in a tight hug. I smiled but couldn’t help but wince when my shoulder shifted a bit. It had gotten better but wasn’t completely healed.

“Let her go, Boop. Her shoulder is hurt,” Fanny stated, almost growled.

Betty practically jumped away from me like I was on fire. “I am so sorry!”

I smiled, feeling embarrassed. “No, it’s okay. I’m glad to see you Betty. Sorry I’ve been gone so long from the shop.”

“Oh, don’t be! Alice explained everything.” Betty waved her hands dismissively. “And besides, cleanin’ up is da only thin’ we have goin’ for us. Business is slow an’ all until we get those supplies in from outta town.”

Dovil turned to Fanny. “Isn’t Brute workin’ on the roads?”

Fanny scowled into her glass of water. “Yeah, yeah, it’s a cussing mess, and he’s complainin’ nonstop. All of them have double or triple shifts until traffic works normally again.”

The four of us sat down, me next to Dovil, Cala next to Betty, and Alice and Red in the middle.

“But doesn’t that mean he’s not around? Shouldn’t you have some peace then?” Red asked.

Fanny scoffed and put the glass down. “Except when he opens the door and rants no matter what time it is.” I frowned. That was rude. It sounded like the guy had a temper.

Dovil scowled. “Fat pig,” she muttered under her breath. I raised a brow at Dovil.

“What about you Betty? I hear Bimbo is out of prison again. Has he lost all your savings yet?” Fanny asked.

Betty’s face darkened with a blush. “No! Bimby’s going clean this time! No more gambling. No ‘old friends’ and no get rich quick schemes. He promised me.”

“Twenty dollars he doesn’t last a month.” Fanny smirked. For some reason that expression reminded me of someone. But I couldn’t exactly place it. 

“I’ll take that,” Red said.

“Oh Red!” Betty smiled. “You thi--”

“He won’t last to next week,” Red looked to Betty. Betty’s jaw dropped.

I turned to Dovil. “No one has very much faith in Bimbo, do they?” I commented to her.

The bird woman sighed. “It’s hard to when he’s done Betty bad over a dozen times in the past three years. Fanny and Red keep telling her to dump him and do her own thing, but she won’t.” Dovil looked at me and winked. “It’s too bad too. She’s one hell of a business woman. She could own this town if she wanted to, instead of slaving away at that shop and then losing out to that dog time and again.” Her words surprised me. Betty had always struck me as a sensible, intelligent girl. That she’d been swayed by a guy again and again seemed strange.

“You two are terrible!” Betty pouted at the chuckling women.

Red sighed and leaned back into her chair. “What can I say? It’s freeing to get rid of dead weight.”

“So that mutt hasn’t come slinking around anymore?” Fanny looked at Red with a raised brow.

Avery Wolf. To my surprise, I could remember a little of the night he left. He’d been pretty shaken up when I’d pepper sprayed him. I wondered if he was alright. He’d seemed so...sad about all that had happened.

“Not since his attempted theft.” Red scowled. A waiter came up and asked for their orders. After he left, Fanny turned back to Red.

“When did you last see him?” I asked Red tentatively. “Was he okay?”

Red frowned. Fanny scoffed. “What does it matter? The sleaze was asking for it! Didn’t he nearly mess up your work with that cold-blooded doctor? Hell! I bet he’s still running with that starfallen pack--”

“Fanny!” Dovil gasped.

“What? Tell me I’m wrong!” Fanny declared.

“He promised he left them when he left Chicago,” Red muttered. She shrugged her bare shoulders. “I don’t know if I believe that anymore, though.”

“The pack?” Alice asked tentatively.

“A gang of wolves,” Dovil said in a spooky voice. “They claim their leader is none other than that infamous murderer, the Big Bad Wolf.”

I frowned. “Who’s he?”

Fanny barked a laugh. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I’d like to know too, actually?” Cala whispered and raised her hand gingerly.

“The Big Bad Wolf is a legendary killer. He’s traveled the country hunting the innocent that dare travel alone. But his most famous kills are...children.” Dovil wiggled her fingers. I hissed in a gasp. What?

Fanny scoffed. Red frowned. Betty picked up the story. “There are some that escaped the fearsome wolf. The three pigs, brothers, were able to thwart him and escape.”

“A few children were able to escape the woods,” Dovil added.

“And even one that sits at this very table,” Betty said. I blinked owlishly. All three turned to Red. She frowned.

“Really?” Cala asked in awe.  

I looked at them both in confusion. “But why?” I turned to Red.  

Red shook her head and waved her hands dismissively to the other women. “Oh please. I was a child! I didn’t know anything back then.”

“What happened?” Alice asked, completely taken with the story.

“I was taking food to my grandmother’s house. The wolf found me in the woods and figured out where she lived.” The beauty sighed and leaned on her hand. “I got there, and he was pretending to be her so I would get close enough for him to eat me.” Cala gasped. My jaw dropped.

“H-How did you get away?” I asked.

“Luck. A woodsmen heard me scream and came to my rescue,” Red said. “Cut him open and filled him with rocks before throwing the wolf in the lake.”

I frowned, ignoring the drop in my stomach at that image. “Then shouldn’t that have been the end of it?”

“That’s why he’s so scary,” Dovil said. “He keeps coming back. The pigs killed him too, but a couple years later, he was in the news again.”

“A copycat?” Alice suggested weakly.

Red shook her head. “A monster that big and evil? Not in your life, honey. That guy is immortal.” That sent a shiver down my spine.

“Oh! Don’t say that Red! You’re giving me goosebumps!” Dovil rubbed her arms.

“You’re the one that brought him up!” Red chuckled.

“He’s a wolf, and you were dating a...wolf?” Alice asked curiously. “Why?”

Red shrugged indifferently. “I don’t know. He asked? I have a problem flirting with danger? I’m sick in the head maybe?”

“Oh it’s definitely the last one.” Fanny chuckled. Red rolled her eyes, but she had a smile on her face.

“Please, like you’re one to talk, Fanny.” Red smirked.

“You two really should look into higher class men,” Dovil chirped.

“Says the dame dating a doctor.” Fanny rolled her eyes. “Really. You and Puphead are _disgusting_ together.”

“Thank you,” Dovil preened.

I put a hand underneath my chin. “What is it like to be in love?” I couldn’t help but ask. Sitting here with all these amazing women, it suddenly became blaringly apparent to me that I’d never really seriously dated anyone. I thought of my date with Bendy. Then, my eyes couldn’t help but wander over to Alice. Did she like him? I thought about when Bendy had been in jail. Those blushes had been so very cute between the two of them.

If she did, it looked like my little ship habit might come to surface again. How long had it been? Three years? Four? Since I’d been involved in encouraging a cute couple together.

I thought of the Cookie Carnaval back at home. The cookie queen and her cute, cute little make-up man had been so adorable. Then mother had caught me sneaking back in afterwards.

When papa had found out that I had snuck out to teach the little cookie man how to frost and decorate the cookie girl he liked, papa had laughed so hard milk had come out of his nose. And then the little cookie girl had won the contest and become the cookie queen. The next carnaval that the Candy District had thrown, papa had taken me to it himself. It had made me so happy to see the two there, sitting on the judges’ stand, laughing with each other.

Oh, and then there was Roxanne and Max. I’d never been able to talk to them.

“It’s amazing!” Dovil sighed.

Fanny and Red pulled faces of disgust.

“Oh, it’s fantastic! You heart warms up just thinkin’ about him! And when he smiles at you, it’s like the world has brightened up.” Betty brought her hands to her chin.

“Oh?” Cala murmured and ducked her head. Her face was dark with a blush.

Fanny waved her finger. “Oh no! Don’t you start! Love is nothing but trouble! Men are all the same! The worst! They drag you down. You are much better off on your own.”

Dovil rolled her eyes.

I stared at Fanny in confusion. “Aren’t you married?”

She pulled a face. “I didn’t do that for something as foolish as love! He had a house and a good job.” She lifted her chin. “He was a smart choice if I want to live comfortably.”

Red shook her head. “You are so shallow, Fanny. It’s amazing.”

“I _know_ what I want out of life, and my tastes are expensive.” Fanny smirked. “Better than living in a sick home, constantly mopping up after that mad doctor.”

“At least it’s my choice. And Odds respects me when I need time off,” Red stated. “When can you three last say you didn’t have to fight for your free nights?” She pointed to the other women. They all grimaced. “Exactly. I’m not at the beck and call of a demanding hospital or boyfriend.”

“But you’re trying to change the subject! Both of you!” Betty accused. “You both are just bitter from your difficult love lives.”

They both scowled. “Damnit. She caught us,” Fanny muttered.

Betty smirked. “You both have been in love before. Admit it!”

“Fine! Avery swept me off my feet.” Red sighed like it was a burden to talk. “He was charming, funny, a complete klutz, but yet he could dance and sing.” She sighed. “He made me feel like I was the most important thing in the world.”

Betty smiled and lifted her shoulders. Dovil sighed. Cala looked like she was trying to get as small as she could. A radar went off in my mind. “Something your thinking about, Cala?” I asked with a growing smirk.  

“No!” she squeaked.

Betty and Dovil shared a knowing look. “Are you sure?”

“I think she may be twitterpated,” Dovil stage whispered. Cala squeaked again and pulled Paul’s tentacles in front of her eyes. Paul looked down, a little startled.

My grin grew wider. “Is it...Mugman?”

She jumped up and leaned toward me. “Holly dooooon’t,” she whined. I chuckled.

“Wait.” Fanny sat up. “As in that cup faced Mugman?”

“You know him?” Cala asked. “Oh, of course you do! You saw us at the hospital!” she said in despair.

“Why? What’s he like?” Betty asked.

Red rolled her eyes. “Trouble,” she muttered. “Girl, that man is nothing but trouble.” My smile fell.

Cala’s face was so dark it might combust. Alice frowned. “I don’t know. He seems like a good person to me.”

I sat back down. “He has a kind heart,” I said uncertainly.

All of my doubts, suspicions, and worries about the cup brothers came pounding back down on my head in an instant. It was enough to give me a slight headache. My brain didn’t want to process all the potential meanings there. I pushed it aside again. This was a night out. Not a time to think about that. It was a time to be in the moment.

One last thought came to mind though. My journal. I’d noticed pages written it. Pages I didn’t remember writing. I’d been avoiding since then. But those pages might have a clue, something more to help me decide. I put the thought away for later.

“Oh, I know. I knew of them when they were boys.” Cala chuckled. “I never thought I’d run into them again. They are trouble...but they’re also trying their best to do good.” Cala smiled.

“Aww,” Betty cooed. “That smile is darling! You must have him wrapped around your little finger.” The smile came back. I had the distinct impression she was right.

Cala’s face darkened again, and she ducked. Dovil twittered with a giggle. “Oh yes! You dear, are head over heels!”

Fanny rolled her eyes. Red groaned. The waiter finally returned with drinks and food. “Finally!” Fanny snapped. “I can’t take much more of this without a buzz.”

“Not lady like,” Dovil chastised.

“To the sun with that! You three are disgusting.” Fanny shuddered and then took a long drink of her cocktail. “Aww, better.”

“Oh posh! You adored your man too!” Dovil huffed. “Don’t act like you’re above the rest of us!”

Fanny snorted. “And he choose a kitten instead of all this!” She waved a hand indicating her form.

I blinked. What was that about?

Dovil sighed and looked at Fanny from the corner of her eye. “Fanny. I don’t think you should speak of the dead like that,” she said sadly. Alice looked between the two.

Huh?

I leaned over to Red. “Do you know what they’re talking about?”

“Yeah, but it’s not my story to share,” she whispered.

“Oh Fanny, don’t be like that. They’ve had it hard lately.” Betty frowned and shook her head.

“And why should I care? Did he care when he broke my heart? When he left me high and dry? No!” Fanny proclaimed. “He was happy as a lark. Meanwhile, I was stuck with no job and no idea what to do in this city!”

“You could have gone home,” Red said drily.

“And admit my father was right after leaving? Sunblaze that!” Fanny snapped.

“Fanny language!” Dovil said, looking around and waving at a nearby table.

“Your pride is gonna get you killed someday.” Red shook her head.

“Still, we made it work, Fanny, and you’re fine,” Dovil said. “Ortensia was a kind person anyway. It’s not her fault what happened to you.”

Ortensia? That...sounded familiar. I frowned, once again hating how cloudy my mind was.

“She shouldn’t have been sinking her kitty claws into a guy that was tied!” Fanny said and took another long drink.

“I’m sorry?” Alice said, but it sounded like a question.

Fanny snorted. “What about you? Do you have a fella?”

“Oh, you must with a smile like that.” Betty smiled.

A light blush came to Alice’s cheeks. “Oh, I don’t know.” I... _don’t know!!!_ Which meant there might?

“Oh come on,” Dovil said. “It’s just us girls, after all. No secrets here.”

I tilted my head towards her, watching.

“Well, I’m out of town so--”

“What’s this? A big city romance for a little town girl?” Betty asked with stars in her eyes.

“Oh--Ah! Well, um, it’s not exactly--”

“Then, it’s a fella you left back home,” Fanny guessed and swirled her drink. Alice’s face darkened a margin. I tilted my head in confusion. But I thought she liked...

“Ooooh! A love separated by distance!” Dovil swooned.

Alice cringed and lifted a finger. “That’s not quite what--”

“Or is it a love triangle!” Red grinned. The others gasped. Alice’s face looked like it was about to start steaming. Okay, I had to figure out what was going on here. Although, I was starting to feel bad for the angel, being inundated with questions.

“N-n-n-”

“A mystery man here in the city that swept her away and made her feel things she never felt before,” Dovil said gleefully and fanned herself with a hand.

“But then there’s her childhood sweetheart, sworn to wait for her return home!” Betty added, resting her arms on the table and her chin on her hands.

“And the poor thing is torn between the exciting unknown of this handsome stranger and the loyal kindness of the boy back home,” Red purred and chuckled.

“Have you kissed?” I slipped in subtly. The table exploded with squeals and giggling. Alice looked like she was in pain. Cala patted her arm sympathetically. Her own face was flushed.

“Yes.” Alice sighed. My jaw dropped. She _did_ like him!!

“For which? The city man or the boy back home?” Dovil asked in a fit of giggles.

“Didn’t all of you make that up to tease her? She hasn’t said anything so far,” Fanny stated deadpan.

“We did, but she should clarify since she just said yes.” Red smirked and looked at Alice. “So go on, Alice.”

“Yes.” Alice covered her heated face.

“Yes to the city or country!” Dovil demanded. She leaned over the table.

“Yes.” She groaned and sunk down into her seat. Wait, she didn’t mean...

“Wait! You’re not saying both!” Betty gasped.

“Yes,” she whimpered and sunk further. Oh heavens.

 _“Oh my stars, you are in a love triangle!”_ Dovil squealed.

Alice groaned and sunk lower. She was almost under the table now. She lifted one hand and moved it in a shape.

Red raised a brow. “No ladies, a square.”

 _“THREE MEN!!”_ Fanny laughed. I sat back, stunned. I hadn’t seen that one coming.

Alice shot up and uncovered her face. “Now, hold on a minute! It’s not like that!”

“Oh no! You are leading three fellas around! You are working the blocks, girl!” Fanny pointed at her and laughed.

“No! It’s my parents!” Alice dropped back into her seat exasperated. Huh?

“Woah now, hold on. Parents?” Red raised a brow.

Alice sighed and ran a hand over her face. “Back home it’s normal for parents to pick their children’s partners. As long as the child approves of their choice, they get married.”

The table was quiet. Alice looked down at her untouched food. “My parents have narrowed down their pick between two men. Both of them are great people. I’ve known them both from childhood, and I thought I’d be happy with either one, but--”

“But city handsome showed up!” Dovil squeaked. The handsome city devil, more like it. Fanny elbowed her and scowled. Dovil frowned. Fanny put a finger to her lips.

“No!” Alice denied loudly and looked alarmed. “Um, I mean, no. It’s not that. It’s just...living here and learning the things I’ve learned…” She frowned.

“Home seems like a small place with small ideas here, doesn’t it?” Fanny said softly. Alice looked up at her with doleful eyes. “Don’t worry. Take your time to figure yourself out. If you decide your home’s way of doing things doesn’t work for you, that’s fine. You are your own person. Your happiness is up to you.”

“Ooooh! Fanny!” Dovil gushed and hugged her.

Fanny grimaced. “Get off!” she complained. “You’re going to spill my drink!”

I looked at Alice and bit my lip. I hoped things were okay. She looked so uncertain.

“But who’s the city man?” Red asked from around her pitte bite.

“What?” Alice asked.

“You didn’t deny his existence.” Red shrugged.

“Well...it’s not love,” she muttered and fiddled with a lock of her hair. “At least I don’t think so.” I blinked.

“Save yourself the heartache,” Fanny said from around Dovil.

“No! Fall! Fall for him like a rock!” Dovil laughed. Alice paled and ducked her head.

“Why don’t you think it’s love?” I leaned over to look at Alice.

“I--I.” She shook her head. “B-because it _can’t_ be.” I stopped. Was it because he was a demon and she was an angel? It made me sad. Then, I frowned. Would _Alice_ of all people really think that way?

“Can’t or you don’t want it to be?” Cala whispered.

“What?” Alice furrowed her brows.

“Would it be easier if you didn’t love him? Is that why you said can’t instead of isn’t?” Cala asked. “Because you sound really uncertain and scared to me, Alice.”

“I-I’m not--”

“Alice. You know what I am,” she smiled sadly. “I know what fear is.”

Alice lowered her troubled face to stare at her food. “I just don’t know.”

I reached out and touched Alice’s hand, not knowing what else to do. “Does he make you happy?”

“I just don’t know,” she said miserably.

“Oh no! Look what we did!” Dovil lamented.

“We didn’t mean to distress you, dear. We just got excited,” Betty said. “We’re sorry.”

“There’s no pressure, Alice. You don’t have to make any choice tonight. And none tomorrow. Take as long as you need to figure yourself out,” Red said. “Fanny is right.”

I drew back. “I agree,” I murmured. “We’re here to have fun.”

“Okay,” Alice said in a small voice.

“Then, let’s have some cussing fun!” Fanny declared.

Things did lighten up a bit after that. After a bit of talking, several of us started dancing. I was already exhausted with just the talking, so I sat with Cala while the others danced. Alice proved the grace of an angel. We laughed for the rest of the night. The girls had hundreds of stories. Alice starting punning, which thrilled Dovil and Fanny and caused Betty and Red to groan.

Fanny even commented on Bendy and Boris’ growing fame. She thought it was stupid that a group that seemed to be constantly coming to the hospital for treatment were being hailed as heroes.

Dovil told her she was just jealous.

Red winked to us covertly.


	83. Monday, November 14th (Part One)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mercowe here! Wow, this is an enormous entry. So many things are happening. We're heading up on some action, so look forward to it. :)

I refuse to acknowledge consciousness and existence as real tangible things. By the time we got back from dancing yesterday I was edging on the side of non-existence. Today was no better. Adieu. 

-Later-

Okay. I do...want to write. Even if I’m exhausted. I can’t sleep because of all the whirling in my head. It just seems that so much has been happening lately. 

Well, here it is.

After last night, I ended up sleeping for a long time into the morning. I’d sort of wanted to try to go to work, but obviously that didn’t happen. Instead, I woke up, got out of bed, and wandered out into the kitchen. Cala was there.

She was making tea, watching the kettle with wary eyes, and holding her mugs in her hands. 

I frowned. “Are you okay?” 

She jumped and nearly dropped her cup. “Oh! Holly!” She looked over after saving it. “Hello.” 

I wandered over to a chair and sat down. Yep. Head was still pounding from all the energy it took from staying awake last night. “Do you need any help?” I asked hoarsely.

“Hm? Oh no. I just wanted to save the kettle before it started screaming from the heat. I want tea, but I don’t want it to suffer for it.” Cala smiled and shrugged. 

I blinked. The tea kettle...

Cala noticed. The smile fell. “That’s what Alice told me to do for the hot drink. Put the kettle on the heat...Am I doing this wrong? She said the noise was when it was done, but it sounded painful when she did it.” 

Oh heaven help these two. One thought donuts were sinful and the other one thought heating up the kettle would hurt it.

I smiled grimly. “Nope. You’re doing it perfectly. But the kettle isn’t alive. That’s just the sound of hot water trying to escape.” I tried to think of an underwater comparison, which made my head hurt. “Like...bubbles escaping lava tubes underwater. But we have sound instead of bubbles.” 

“Oh!” Cala gasped. Her face darkened in a blush. “Oh. I see. Well…” She stepped away from the kettle. “I guess with the Cup brothers and all those folk, I thought it was alive.” She chuckled and set the cup down. “Silly of me.” 

I shook my head, which inevitably made my world spin. “Not silly. No one can expect you to know about something you haven’t seen before.” Another sharp pang went through my forehead, and I bowed forward, clutching my skull. This was like waking up after the one time I’d tried to drink of bottle of cheap wine on a dare from Pupeye.

“Is your head bothering you?” Cala asked concerned. “I might be able to help.” 

I glanced up. “Yes. Please.” I didn’t care how. “Staying up late yesterday was a bad idea,” I groaned. 

She went to the pantry and rifled about. She pulled out another cup, crushed what looked like a leaf, and sprinkled it in. She then added a pouch of tea. The kettle went off, and she hurried to it. She poured water into the cup and stirred it with a spoon. “It may taste a bit salty to you, but it does wonders for the head and sore muscles.” 

I nodded, smiling. “Thanks Cala.” Then I took a sip. I grimaced as the salty taste filled my mouth. It was sort of like seaweed. 

“It’s called sea green tea. It’s from seaweed that grows at the surface of the water in clusters. It can be hard to find because, once the forest gets a certain size, it breaks from its roots and drifts in the open water. Which means it’s never in the same place. You want to get it while it’s drifting, though. That’s when it’s matured enough to really help with...But I’m just babbling now.” Cala ducked her head and poured herself some hot water before returning the kettle to the stove. 

I blinked wide eyes at her. “No, that was really interesting.” My head still pounded, but with each sip it faded a little bit. “Can you buy them, or did you pick these yourself?”

“These are some of mine. Alice told me I should show someone named Minnie before I run out so she can help me get more,” Cala mumbled and smiled. 

I nodded. “Minne would be able to do that. I can show you where Minnie is if you want.” Then, I scrunched my face and sighed, putting my face on the table. “She’s still closed for now though.” And I hadn’t even gone over the help yesterday like I’d wanted to.

“A lot of places still are,” Cala agreed. “But I would like that, if you don’t mind!” she said quickly. She brushed one of her octopus’ tentacles. It wiggled and wrapped around her finger. 

I nodded, dragging my cup closer and trying to tilt it as low as I could without spilling it to keep my head flat. “I’ll show you then. Minnie is nice. So is Daisy.” 

“Okay.” Cala nodded shily. The octopus wiggled a bit. “Oh, sorry Paul.” She went back to the pantry. 

I watched her curiously. What did Paul want? 

She came back with a bag of dried fish and offered one to the creature on her head. He seemed excited. He took it, and it disappeared underneath the tentacles.  

I stared in fascination. How did that work? Was the octopus actually part of her head? Could she remove it? What would she look like without him? If they were separated, then why did Paul stay on her head? If they were together did that mean she had two heads? But she talked to him, so they had to be seperate right? Also, Paul was eating. That meant he had his own stomach right? So they were separate! But then why have an octopus on your head? She said it was a symbiotic relationship. How did they live off each other then?

“You know you can ask, right? Alice did,” Cala said in a small voice. “You can’t offend me. After all,” her smile became teasing, “no one can expect you to understand something you’ve never seen before.” 

I blinked and chuckled. Then, I put a hand on my forehead. It was spinning again. Stupid head didn’t do anything lately. I put my head down on the table and looked at her sideways. “Are you one?”  

“Paul and I?” Cala asked, offering him another fish snack. 

I hummed in agreement. 

“Yes, we are now. He doesn’t have to eat. But he likes the taste of certain things, so I have snacks for him. When I was a child, he could detach. But he decided to stay with me instead of fleeing when I...uh, hit maturity.” Cala blushed. “Poor thing would rather be a gorgon then alone.” She patted it. The octopus wiggled and wrapped a tentacle around her finger. He looked happy. 

I blinked and my jaw dropped open. I may have spilled a little tea. “G-Gorgon? You’re a gorgon?” I said in disbelief. But then, why wasn’t I turning to stone? And she was too nice to turn people into stone, anyways!!

Her eyes widened. “You don...Oh, that’s right. You wouldn’t remember, would you?” Cala lowered her hand. 

I scowled and put my face nose down onto the table. “No. Apparently not.” I had missed so much. I was missing so much. I made me so confused. So...frustrated. 

“Okay, wait. Don’t get angry. I’ll tell you about our brief encounters, and we can get back to the gorgon thing,” Cala said and took a drink of her tea. And she did. Since I looked in the journal later today, I saw that I already wrote what happened. So, I don’t feel the need to try and relive that memory like I did before. Needless to say though, there were details that Cala mentioned that I don’t have in my journal, like when I trapped her in the pool of that house. 

I couldn’t find anything written of anything during Nightmare Night. Either I didn’t write, or I didn’t write in my regular journal. 

“So, I just assumed you remembered I was gorgon.” She blushed and finished her drink. “Though, using a basilisk, that was clever. One poisoned sight matched with another.” She chuckled. “What would my sister have said?” She glanced over. “Sorry. You probably don’t find that funny.” 

Not really, but I was glad someone found it funny. I grimaced. “Yeah, I’ve always liked ironies,” I said weakly. I paused. “So I have a question.”

“Go ahead.” Cala fiddled with the empty cup. 

“Did the cog...How did the cog mess with your head? How are you so cheerful?” Was that the right question? I wasn’t sure. 

Cala buzzed her lips. “Well...I guess I’m just happy to be out of my prison. I have a new lease on life, as Mugs said.” She puckered her lips. “When the cog was with me, well, I wasn’t really sure what was going on around me. I knew I was afraid and felt weak. The cog gave me power. I used my power over stone at some point to create a stone body over myself. It’s a trick I used before. But this wasn’t a puppet, it was  _ me.”  _ She frowned. “I was stuck to the floor with veins attached to me. It was dark unless the cog lit up to power the monster I turned into. The only one I could talk to was Paul.”

I frowned. “But did it ever change things inside your head?”

“I don’t remember what I did after I touched the cog, so the best I can say is I assume so?” Cala grimaced. “It probably wasn’t anything good.” 

I hummed. “I guess that’s why things were different between what happened to you and what happened to me. You had stone powers, so it created the stone monster. But I only had runes, so it tapped into that.”

She shrugged. “I’m honestly surprised it didn’t go on a rampage of some sort. I mean...gorgons can do a lot more than make a body of rocks.” She lowered her eyes to the counter. “I’m lucky it stayed at the cliffs.” 

“I wonder why.” I blinked and looked up. “What was your desire?” After all, that was what it linked onto. 

“To be safe,” she whispered and went to make another cup of tea. 

“Maybe the cliffs felt safe,” I mused and then realized what she said. “Why did you need to feel safe? Are you okay?”

She turned to me in surprise. “That does make sense.” She blinked. “I never thought of it that way.” She put on the water. “Well, life as a gorgon is usually a very lonely matter. If you want to live long, you can’t have people around. If you want to see society, you will die young.” 

I frowned. “Why?” Cala wasn’t in trouble, was she? 

“Why?” She chuckled warmly. “Because we’re cursed creatures of darkness. We bring death with one look. No one in the sea wants that.” 

I sighed. It felt like the same mentality as what people viewed with Bendy. “Well, I don’t see you trying to hand out death with a look, so I’m glad you’re here and not there.”

She hummed. “Well, don’t be fooled Holly. This,” she waved at her face, “is a spell. A very complex one. Normally, just you coming out like you did and me not knowing would have been your end.” She turned away. “I found a way around it, and the price for the spell still might not have been worth it.” 

My shoulders fell. “Oh.” I should have guessed. Apparently all my fine reasoning skills had gone with my memory. I should have realized that myself.

Cala laughed. “Don’t worry!” She patted my arm. “I’m more than aware of what I am and what I can do. It was far scarier when I was a child and had no idea.” She shook her head. “But if mother was anything, she was clever.” She snorted and got her tea poured again. “I wished she had a way to warn us though. It would have saved my sister and I a lot of heartache.” Paul wiggled sadly. 

I sat up. “Why couldn’t she warn you?” 

“Hmm? Oh!” Cala sat up. “Um.” She bit her lip. “Are you sure you want to know? It’s a rather sad story.” She snorted a small laugh. “Not that I’ve ever heard a ‘happy story’ with a gorgon in it.” 

I nodded. “I’d like to get to know you more, Cala. You seem like a good person. But we don’t have to talk about that.”

“I don’t mind. You’re a curious person, but a nice one. Besides, mother said the only way people are ever going to give us a chance is if they’ll listen to us.” She grinned. 

“So, when I was born I looked like a normal mermaid. Our father was a merman from Atlantis and our mother was a disguised gorgon. She had made a deal with the sea witch Ursula for her looks. Father didn’t know, and they had me and my two sisters.” She smiled. “We lived in Atlantis, the capital of the merpeople. I became friends with one of the princesses, Ariel, and we would get into all sorts of trouble together. Ebi, my younger sister, would follow us, and Akama would tattle.” She giggled. “It wasn’t until Akama was around ten that mother started acting strange.” Cala’s smile fell. “She didn’t want Akama to go out anymore. She would always have excuses. She wanted to take Akama out of the city for a little ‘adventure.’ Her and father started fighting.” 

I frowned. “Who’s Akama?” 

“My older sister,” Cala said simply, her eyes gazing off in the distance. “Eventually mother just left. She was gone for a few days. Father didn’t have any explanation. When she came back, she was acting even more strange. On edge.” Cala rested her head on her hand, stirring her tea with her finger. “I found out later, it was because she went to see the sea witch. She wanted a similar spell for Akama, who was getting close to the age for her to change into a gorgon.” 

My frown deepened. This didn’t look like it was going a good way. “And then what happened?”

Cala frowned. “She’d only do it if my mother turned the king to stone.” Cala dipped her head. I sucked in a breath. Of course. “The spell on her would break if she used any of her powers. It would be a suicide mission.” The girl took a drink of her tea. “But if she didn’t, Akama would turn in the middle of Atlantis. There would be panic, and she would surely be killed along with myself and Ebi.” 

I grimaced. “That’s not much of a choice.” They were just children. How could they...But then again, from what Cala made it sound like, even the children could turn people to stone without meaning to. But still...children.

“She was planning to do it,” Cala said. “The biggest problem was how my father was going to take it when he realized what she...what we were.” She stared at her tea cup. “Mother wasn’t sure if he loved us more than his loyalty to his people and his king. He’d be turning his back on everything he had if he choose us.” 

I tried to imagine that. Having my own father see me as a monster. I couldn’t imagine it. My father had always been the first person to tell me that I could do whatever I put my mind to. ‘Life’s about making mistakes, Lee. You just keep trying.’

“It was on the day mother was going to do it,” Cala said quietly. I looked up. “She came under the pretense of picking up me and Ebi from a play date. She knew it would get her past the guards, but that my sister and I would already be on our way home with dad. She didn’t know he was running late because Akama had gotten a cough.” Cala shook her head. “He had brought her, just a fifteen minutes swim to the castle, to drop by the herbs shop. That’s all it was meant to be. But then, the guards were yelling and rushing. I got separated from Ariel and her sisters. Ebi was crying.” 

She glanced at me. “Did you know a gorgon’s one and only change of mind from the innocent to the monster is fear? That the curse is triggered by stress when a gorgon reaches the proper age?” 

My eyes widened. Did she mean...

“Father sure didn’t,” Cala said grimly. “His last words were ‘run,’ and then he was stone.” Cala took a drink of her tea and a deep breath. “Akama and mother didn’t make it out of the castle. Rumor was that fifteen guards and seven other merpeople died from the gorgon attack. The king and the princesses were all safe.” She frowned. “Some even said that the king took care of the monsters himself. Oh, what a brave king he is.” Her usually cheery voice turned sarcastic. 

My frown deepened. “I’m so sorry, Cala,” I whispered. 

She shook her head. “It was bound to happen. Even if mother had been successful, they’d have eventually connected the dots. And even if father had left with us...Accidents happen. As long as he was around us, he risked being turning to stone.” Her face fell. “I just feel bad for Akama. She had no idea. I didn’t either really. We fled the city, and I had rumors to go off of. But I didn’t really know what gorgons were like beyond stories and legends. I certainly wasn’t ready for when _ I  _ changed.” She put a hand to her chest. “Ebi was scared of me for weeks after that. I was lucky Paul was a stubborn cephalopod  and took the curse with me. It was lonely until Ebi finally relaxed. It went better for when she changed. We were ready at least. ” 

I studied Cala’s face. Sometimes she had seemed a little odd. But the more I listened, the more I got the sense that this girl was a very steady soul. She’d gone through a lot. “I’m glad you got this far, and I got to meet you,” I murmured. 

She perked up. “Wish I could say the same, but apparently this is my first time getting to meet  _ you.”  _ She smiled. “So Holly May, what’s your story? You know how I got here. Let me get to know you too.” She blinked, the blush returned. “Um, unless you rather not.” 

I laughed. “I don’t mind. I’m afraid I’m rather mundane in comparison to most people in our circle of friends. I was born and grew up in a small town about four days train ride from here called Aesop’s Falls.” I hummed. What could I tell her? “What do you want to know?” 

“What was it like? How was growing up there? Was running hard to learn for you? What brought you to this city? What is your favorite activity? What are your parents likes? Do you have siblings? How far does the land go…” The stars died in her eyes as she trailed off. “That’s a lot. Sorry.” She ducked her head. 

I blinked. That was a lot of questions. Now, I knew how everyone else felt. Then I smiled at her. But questions deserved to be answered. “Don’t feel sorry. Questions are like rain. They help us grow.” It’s what pops had always said. “What was it like?” I tilted my head, touching my jaw. “Um, for me, growing up was everywhere I guess. Do you know what a zany is?” I asked her gently. Cala shook her head. 

“A zany is different than any other type of toon. They can be human, animal, object. What sets them apart from regular toons is that are crazier than any other toon you’ve met. They don’t follow rules, written or any demanded by physics or science. Many times, they say things that don’t make sense, but seem to make sense to other zanies. They also have abilities to do things with their bodies that should kill them, but that don’t.” I scrunched my face. “Once I saw a zany unravel a dog like he was a knit sweater. It traumatized me as a child.” I chuckled. “But then he sewed him back together like it was nothing.” Cala’s eyes widened. 

I waved a hand. “Anyways, my home town is mostly made up of zanies.” I held up four fingers. “There are four different parts of town. The Candy District, Toyland, The Bay, and the Woods. I lived near the woods. That’s where most animal and human toons lived. A lot of sea toons lived in the Bay District, along with several sailors. The town being what it was, it was easy for frequent travelers, like my uncle, to come and go a lot without anyone minding.” Cala nodded excitedly. 

I tapped my finger on my chin. What was her next question. How was growing up? “I am an only child.” I shook my head. “But I didn’t really grow up alone.”  

“Oh?” Cala tilted her head. Paul even looked curious. 

I quirked a brow. “Here’s a secret. Zanies love normal people. They absolutely  _ love _ to surprise, impress, and horrify people. I suspect it feeds their ego.” I shook my head. “The older zanies weren’t interested in scaring a kid, but the young zanies.” I chuckled nervously with the memory. “It was their passion in life to get a reaction. And I didn’t want to give them one.”

“They would never hurt you, would they?” Cala asked. 

I went deadpan. “Not most of the time. But it depends on the zany and whether you just made them mad.” I shook my head. “I had one or two friends. The first was a walking fish named Bruce. And another was a rain cloud named Harold. And then, there were my...I guess you could call them second cousins? We’re not actually related, but we might as well be. They are my uncle’s nephews. I also had a direct cousin. But he was adopted and just a little baby.” I smiled. “Sweetpea.”   

Cala stared at me, baffled. “You were friends with a cloud?” She glanced at the window.

I hummed and nodded. “Like I said, Aesop’s Falls has always been a good place for travelers. Harold’s family liked to drift. But he felt he was being blown out of his element. So not to rain on his parade, his parents let him stay with mine.” I grinned. Harold would be grey and thundering if he ever heard me using him to make that many puns.

She stared at me again. So did Paul. “You have to be pulling my fin!” 

I raised a brow. “Want to bet? I can show you a picture.” 

She leaned over the counter expectantly. 

I got up and went into my room. Ruffling through the closet, I pulled out my shoebox of photos. Then I walked out to the kitchen again. I opened the lid and started to rummage through. “Here.” I picked out the one I had of Harold. He had just gotten glasses. He was a gray-white cloud about the height of a chair. In the picture he was leaned over, his gloved hands wiping away at the condensation on his spectacles. 

“It took him a good week and a half to figure out how to control the humidity around him before he could see right,” I commented, putting my head on my hand, elbow on the counter. “I took full advantage of that week in every way to prank him.” I smiled, handing her the photo. “Did you know, if you’re really careful, you can stand in the middle of a cloud toon without them noticing it? Then, when you start whispering into their ear, they think they’re going mad.” Harold certainly had. Then again, I hadn’t had a dry bed to sleep in for about a month after that, but it had been worth it.  

“By the waves, there he is! Wow!” Cala said in awe. “A living cloud. You sound like you had a lot of fun growing up.” She smiled at the picture. 

I nodded. “Yeah. There was always something happening. If I wasn’t fishing with Bruce, I was riding or sailing with my cousins. If I wasn’t with them, I was studying with Harold.” I snickered. “Or trying to convince him he could fly with me on top of him. And if I wasn’t doing that…” I clicked my tongue and looked down. Some of the fire inside me died. “I would explore the ruins outside town with my pops.” 

Cala smiled and lowered the photo. “That sounds nice.” 

I cleared my throat. “Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I wonder if you ever met Bruce? He would visit Atlantis sometimes.” 

She shook her head. “No. It’s a rather large area. I’m not too surprised.” 

I shrugged. “That makes sense.” I scratched the back of my head. “Sorry, I’ve forgotten what your other questions were. What were they again?” 

She chuckled. “Your parents? If that’s okay? And why you came here.” 

I straightened up and smiled. “Oh, well. My mother’s name is Canola, but my father would always call her Nola. My father’s name was Aspen. My mother actually is mayor of Aesop’s Falls. She has always been a pretty determined woman. She’s the only person I’ve ever seen a zany take seriously.” I laughed. “It’s probably because there hasn’t been a day that one of them hasn’t tried to take her off guard. But they’ve never gotten her to give them a reaction. Not even once.” I laughed. “It was funny to watch them try though. I’ve never seen a zany so disappointed as when Jack jumped out from his box to scare her, and my mother just put her hands on her hips and asked him if he’d made an appointment.”  

“Jack?” Cala blinked. “He tried to surprise her jumping out of a box?” She snorted. “Sounds a bit silly to me.” 

Oh, right. She probably hadn’t seen a jack-in-the-box before. I rummaged through the box again. “Here. Jack’s a toy toon. A jack-in-the box.” I found the picture I was looking for. It was a blurry because, of course, Jack wouldn’t stop moving, but… “With the normal toy, you just wind it up, and it plays a song until, ‘pop,’ the toy jumps out.” I clicked my tongue. “Jack’s zany talent was that he could make his box just show up anywhere. He was really good a scaring people.”

“Uh,” Cala said and squinted at it. “What an odd toy. We have some sea creatures that act similar in the reefs.” 

I tilted my head. “Really?” 

She nodded. “They like to pop up and disappear in a flash.” Cala put down the photo next to the other one. 

The two of us laughed over photos and talked some more. It was the strangest feeling, looking over pictures of Aesop’s Falls. I’d forgotten how big the river and falls looked there. How pretty the small bay was. And how flamboyant the Candy District looked. It made me crave Miss Bonbon’s perfect chocolates. 

And it was comforting since I couldn’t summon the memories myself. 

Around nine, I put the box away and went into my room. I knew there was another way to remember what I’d lost as well. I looked at my journals. 

I wanted to...but I was scared of knowing the details. I shook my head and turned away. I’d wanted to help at Daisey’s shop yesterday. I needed a walk. Maybe if I went to help, it would clear my head a little. 

Closing my bedroom door, I let Cala know where I was going.

“Oh? A shop?” Cala asked.

“I thought since you wanted to talk to Daisy about those herbs, you could come along now if you wanted,” I said. 

“Okay!” Cala said cheerfully. 

So we headed out. When we got there, I noticed that most of the big stuff had been removed. But everything in the shop was still in a huge unorganized pile. Also, the floor still had bits of dirt, glass, and other random things scattered across it. Minnie was going over the things on the shelves with a clipboard in her hand.  

I stuck my head in tentatively. “Hello?” I asked, Cala beside me. 

“Sorry, we aren’t open today,” Daisy said without looking up. “If you need herbs, there’s a stand a few blocks down. I think they have set up again.” 

I walked all the way in the store. “Actually, if you’re okay with it, I wanted to help you clean up.” I gestured to Cala. “And my friend wanted to talk to you.” 

Cala looked between me and Daisy. “Um, hi…” she said quietly. “I was told that you could help me. Have you ever heard of sea green tea?” 

“Oh?” Daisy looked up. Minnie came around the shelves. Cala shifted next to me and ducked her head. 

“Um, I...uh, I really enjoy it. But the sea weed it’s made from is a bit tricky to find, so I was hoping you might have some? Or know where I can get it?” Cala told the countertop. Ohhhhh! She was so shy! I patted her shoulder. 

“Well, we don’t have any right now,” Daisy said. “I haven’t ever heard of the stuff. You Minnie?” 

Minnie frowned thoughtfully. “Gee, I’m not sure, but we’d love to help. You’ll have to wait until our suppliers can get back into the city and our shop is a bit more cleaned up.” 

“O-o-oh no! That’s fine!” Cala her hands quickly. “I wouldn’t imagine it’s very common up--Uh, I mean, in these parts. C-can we help with the cleaning at least?” I nodded in agreement.

“How sweet of you!” Minnie said. Not really, I’d been the one to break into the shop, stick a summoning rune there and then call something? I’d had a guess as to what it had been yesterday. It was at the tip of my tongue? I glanced at the flattened store front. Snake? But that was beside the point. “We’d love the help.” 

“Well I don’t have a problem with it,” Daisy smiled. “Thanks for the assistance. There’s brooms and trash cans in the back. Be careful. I don’t think we’ve gotten all the glass yet.” 

I picked the broom and Cala started to help Minnie organize things. I set anything that still looked decent on the counter as I worked. Daisy, Minnie, and Cala concentrated on the work too, so it ended up being quiet, which was fine with me. I still had things to think about. We worked in silence for about twenty minutes until someone interrupted. 

“Hello? Minnie? Are you here?” Mickey called into the shop. 

I blinked and turned. A wave of anxiety washed up me. I froze. Daisy looked up. “Minnie’s in back,” she said. 

Mickey smiled at her and froze when his eyes landed on me. “O-oh! Uh, hello.” The shock and alarm slipped off to an uneasy smile. Well, that hurt. It was completely justified, but it still hurt.

“Hello.” I cleared my throat and continued to sweep. “U-um, how are you doing?”

“Oh, he’s doing great now that he’s here to see Minnie,” Daisy interrupted and leaned over the counter. She wiggled her eyebrows at him and smirked. 

“Daisy!” Mickey’s eyes widened comically, and his jaw dropped. “You’re as bad as Donald!” 

“Good thing I’m dating him, then. And where’s your date proposal?” Daisy straightened up and fiddled with the cards. “I don’t see any gifts either. Tsk-tsk.”

I glanced at him. He still hadn’t given Minnie the chocolates and flowers? I mentally smacked myself. It was none of my business.  

“Th-that’s none of your business, Daisy!” Mickey grumbled but sunk lower and lower with each word. Mickey and Minnie? They would be the cutest thing together! Why was he having a hard time? I narrowed my eyes. Could I help him? 

“It is if my friend is left hanging Mick.” Daisy shook a finger at him. “And I’m warning you now. She isn’t goin’ to wait forever.” 

“I know. I just, uh...Things have been a bit--” 

“Don’t bother. You were missing.” Now, I was the one sinking lower and lower into my shoes. “We’ve been worried. I’m not going to heckle you...much.” Daisy waved a dismissive hand. 

“Thanks Daisy.” Mickey scratched the back of his head. Cala watched with silent intrigue next to me. 

“Just don’t come cryin’ to me when some Tom, Dick, or Harry swings in and sweeps her off her feet,” Daisy grumbled.

Mickey sighed exasperatedly. “Daisy you can’t jus--”

“Mickey?” Minnie’s high pitched voice called from the back. “Is that you?” 

Mickey’s face darkened with a blush. “Y-yes, Minnie. It’s me.” He gave Daisy a warning look. She winked and smirked. He looked at me and smiled, before heading to the back of the store.

Daisy was chuckling. She waited until he was gone from sight. 

I smiled at her. 

She raised a brow. “They’ve been head over heels for each other for years, but both of them are too shy to make a move! It’s infuriating! They always have a mountain of excuses. And they both get so busy! It drives the rest of us nuts!” she whispered. I folded my arms. That was a problem. “They would cute together, right?” 

I nodded vigorously. “Right!” 

“Absolutely,” Cala agreed from behind me. 

I narrowed my eyes and moved closer to Daisy. “You haven’t ever tried to just set them up, have you?” I couldn’t help the little gleam that entered my eyes.

“Ugh! So many times, it’s ridiculous! It should be illegal all the missed opportunities.” She leaned in as she talked.

“What about tricking them into going on a date?” I offered, shading my mouth as I whispered. 

“We tried that too. Apparently, it doesn’t ‘count’ unless he asks. And he never does!” Daisy rolled her eyes. “Some sort of inferiority complex. He just never thinks he’s good enough or something. Donald thinks he’s trying to prove something to himself, but none of us can figure it out!” Daisy dragged a hand down her face.  “Honestly, I’m to the point of shipping them off to a deserted island for a month. But knowing my luck, there still wouldn’t be a thing to develop.” 

I took a moment to wonder what Mickey thought he had to prove. The guy had spent three days invisible and mute and managed to survive just fine. Not to mention, he was always so kind to everyone.

I finished with the floor and started to help Daisey with sorting the bundles of herbs when Minnie and Mickey finally came out. Cala went to the plants and shelves. 

“Sure, Mickey, and tell everyone I said hi.” Minnie smiled. 

“O-oh, of course.” Mickey fiddled with his gloves. “I’ll see you later.”

“Goodbye Mickey!” Minnie waved as he walked down the street. 

Oh wait. As Minnie went inside, I glanced at Daisy. “Be right back.” 

I ran out the door and caught up with Mickey as he reached a corner. “Um, Mickey,” I said, trying to get his attention. 

He paused and turned to face me. “Oh, wah, Holly. Hi? What can I do for you?”

I held my hands together behind my back and shifted uncomfortably. I looked down, cleared my throat, looked up. “I wanted to tell you I’m sorry about what happened.”

Mickey looked startled at my apology. “O-oh.” He glanced around the street gingerly before looking back at me. “I am too.” Ah, it probably wasn’t best to talk about specifics.

I nodded. “If there’s ever anything I can do to try and make it up, don’t hesitate to let me know.” I tried to force myself to relax, letting my hands fall to my sides. 

Mickey--And if it was an act, it was a good one--relaxed and chuckled. “Shouldn’t I be telling you that?”

That made me blink. I tilted my head at him. “Whatever do you mean?”

Mickey scratched the back of his head again before putting his hands in his pockets. “Look, what happened...Well, I can’t say I didn’t deserve it, at least a little. And thanks to that experience, I learned a lot about myself and others.” Mickey heaved a deep breath and looked at the sidewalk. “So much time underneath a spotlight, it changes the way ya view the world. You kinda get used to people staring at you, recognizing you on the streets, claiming to be your best friend when you’ve never met them.” Mickey shrugged. “It’s hard to not let it get to your head. So, with that light off me, so much so that I had no presence, where I was forced into the audience...Well, it showed me a lot.” He cleared his throat. “I have some shaping up to do to make it up to Boris and Bendy. I also realized that there was some good I could have been doing but haven’t, because I was afraid of getting hurt. So, thank you. I wouldn’t have realized any of that without disappearing for a bit.” 

I stared at him. His words had taken me off guard. I didn’t know what to say. “I’m glad you found some insight,” I finally said. 

Mickey chuckled. He shrugged again, almost helplessly. “A lot of times we learn the most while we are facing difficulties. I just hope some good can come from it all.” 

I thought about that. I hoped so too. Then, I looked at him again. “Do you mind me asking why you haven’t given Minnie those gifts yet?”

“Gifts?” He blinked, and then his face exploded with a flush. “Ah-uh-a-um!” He chuckled nervously. “W-well, you see. It’s been a really crazy time for both of us, and she has to work on the shop and everything. And we’ll be packing up to start another tour in a few weeks so. Uh, I mean. With Ozzy and the kids, it’s not like I can afford a lot of, but, um, and then there’s the fact I’ve never had a house or normal job. So it’s not like…” He trailed off looking five shades of shy and embarrassed. 

I couldn’t help it. I giggled, trying pointlessly to cover it with a hand. “I don’t want to intrude too much, but I’d like to point out something,” I said, lowering my hand. “Life essentially just slapped you in the face, right? You don’t know when something will happen again. Don’t you think you’ll regret it a bit if you don’t? There will always be something more to be busy with.”

Again Mickey turned to me with surprise in his wide eyes. “I...I guess you’re right.” The blush came back, and he looked away again. “It’s hard when ya can’t hold a candle to the person you like though.” He kicked a rock away down the street. “She’s amazing and smart, and brave, and kind, and so beautiful, and,” he sighed, “and what do I have to offer her? Really?” 

So. Cute.

I smothered an inner squeal. 

Instead I carefully schooled my face. “How about happiness? She likes you. That’s what should count the most, right?”

“She does?” Mickey’s blush just got worse. “Y-yeah. You’re right, b-but, um...” He ducked his head. “I mean...Where do I...How do I even, uh…” He dropped his head back and groaned. “I’m hopeless.” 

I understood not knowing where to start. “How about just telling her you don’t know where to start and go from there? That’s what I do when I’m not sure. Or whatever feels the easiest to handle.” 

“Alright, that sounds g-good,” he stuttered. He blinked and glanced back toward the shop. “Daisy didn’t put you up to this, did she?” 

I laughed and shook my head. “I just think if you could work through this, you both would be very happy. I like seeing happy people.” I winked. “And if you need someone to run interference with Daisy so you don’t have to feel awkward, I could do that too.”

Mickey turned back to me. He gave me a hesitant smile. “I might take you up on that. Thank you Holly.” He tugged his glove and sighed. “Now, I better go. Ozzy has kept me under close watch since I came back. He’s gonna tie his ears in a knot if I’m gone too long.” Mickey smiled. 

I waved. “Bye then.” 

“See you around, Holly.” Mickey waved and hurried away in direction of the circus.

When I got back inside, Cala and Daisey were talking. 

“Oh Holly!” Cala said. “You got back in time.” 

I frowned. For what? “Oh?”

Daisy laughed. Cala blushed and ducked her head into Paul’s tentacles. 

“I was just telling her more about Minnie’s situation,” Daisy explained. “The other guy, Mortimer. He’s everything Mickey isn’t. I don’t know why Minnie puts up with him, except maybe hoping to make Mickey jealous enough to do something.” The duck woman rolled her eyes. 

“Daisy! You gossip!” Minnie came in, blushing. “What are you doing?” 

“Strategizing.” Daisy grinned. Good. That was the first step to a successful plot. 

Minnie shook her head. “Oh no. You leave those boys alone!” 

“What do you even see in Mortimer?” Daisy groaned. 

“It’s none of your business. But if you must know, Mortimer is a perfect gentlemen. He has been nothing but kind and generous to  _ both  _ of us.” Minnie frowned. 

“And yet you still refuse to be his girlfriend.” Daisy wiggled her brows. Uh, oh. That was asking for a rebuttal. 

Minnie scowled. “Well, then maybe next time he asks I’ll agree.” She stuck her little black nose in the air. And there it was. Who was this Mortimer guy, anyway? 

“But what about Mickey?” Cala asked with wide glassy eyes. Minnie’s light blush darkened. 

“W-what about him? He’s never asked me so…” Minnie lost her bravedo. Her chin and shoulders fell. “I don’t know.” Oh, Mickey...Please make a move on this adorable girl who likes you. This was maddening!

“He’s just shy,” Daisy stated. “You know he’s head over heels for ya. Why else would he stop by the shop every chance he gets?” Minnie’s blush deepened. 

“I-I’m going to go check the inventory!” she squeaked and hurried away. Daisy let out a half chuckle, half sigh as the mouse’s tail disappeared from view. 

“Oh dear,” Cala murmured. “She really likes him.” She blinked. I nodded. She did. “Then why  _ does  _ she go on dates with this Mortimer?” 

Daisy shrugged. “Maybe she’s bored? Maybe she feels like she owes him. He did donate a bit to help open this shop. The guy is always giving all these expensive things that she won’t take.” Daisy frowned. “Maybe that’s why Mickey is...hmm. I wonder.” The duck raised a feathered hand to her bill thoughtfully. 

I looked at Daisy. “Do you think he feels like he needs to have money before he can ask her?” 

“Well.” Daisy drew out the word. “Think about it. Mickey knows this guy is fawning after Minnie. Mortimer is aware of Mickey too. And you’d be surprised, but Mickey has a strong competitive side. Mortimer has tried cars, diamonds, foreign candies, lavish vacations to places like Spain and Italy. Any guy would be intimidated. But ya can’t buy Minnie. She turns him down  _ most  _ of the time. We all know why.” 

I smiled. She liked Mickey. And Minnie was a girl who knew what was important.

“And sure, Mickey travels to some pretty amazing places, but he’s always in a tent. Most of his cash goes to keeping the circus running and taking care of his family. They’ve been completely broke since Ortensia got sick. I think this next tour is supposed to finally get them back on the good side of the banks if ya know what I mean.” Daisy puzzled. Cala furrowed her brows in confusion. 

I nodded. “They’re in debt. He feels intimidated when Mortimer has so much to offer, and he feels like he has so little.” Poor Mickey. 

“That has to be it.” Daisy nodded and frowned. “But I’m sure that Mortimer is rich for being selfish, and Mickey is broke because he’s selfless. No offense to Mortimer but the guy comes off as a sleaze.” 

I tilted my head. “How?” 

“Well he says he is some adviser for big companies. Helpin’ them grow and expand or something. But he never really explained how he got into that business. He invests now too, but he didn’t start off with money. He also isn’t the type for college,” Daisy said. “And he’s always so smug about everything. I don’t like him. But sadly Minnie is right. He has kept his manners around both of us.” 

“Some guys put on an act to look good, though,” I said quietly, thinking of Fairfax. He’d flirted and met up with so many women when I’d followed him. I couldn’t even begin to remember them all. 

“But he also sounds like he wants to help,” Cala furrowed her brows. “Have he and Mickey met before?”

“Met? I think they grew up in the same town. I haven’t seen them together often. But when they do run into each other, it’s just the tense politeness you’d expect.” Daisy frowned. “I wonder if they’ve ever been near each other without someone around to listen in. Bet Mortimer would needle him.” 

I hummed. “I see. If he’s not done anything wrong though, you can’t say he’s bad.” Although, I couldn’t say how I felt either way unless I met him. 

“Exactly,” Daisy said, she frowned. “If Mickey doesn’t make a move, eventually Mortimer might finally convince Minnie to date him. And then where will we all be?” Cala nodded. 

This was a problem. “Mickey really needs to make a move.” I put my head down and thought real hard. Honestly several people needed to learn to make a move. Apparently Alice and Bendy were dancing around the same problem! It seemed to be a slight epidemic we were facing. “We needs some sort of group date,” I half muttered. 

Daisy sighed. “We’ve tried that. Minnie clings to me, and Mickey is always pulled away by fans.” 

“But we could go!” Cala chirped and then blushed. 

I grinned and nodded. “We could find some place private. And I bet I could convince Alice and Bendy to help set it up too. A triple date.” Everyone would go for everyone else. That was sort of hilarious. 

Cala smiled. “You think you could get Alice and Bendy to go together?” 

I smirked at her. “Not one-hundred percent sure. But I plan to try and find out.” And if he really liked her I wanted him to have a chance! “I think if we spin it as helping out Mickey and Minnie, we could convince them.” I crooked an eyebrow at her. “And I assume you would ask Mugs?” 

Cala squeaked, her face exploding with a blush before she turned away. Daisy laughed. “Aw, that’s cute. And what about you Holly? Do you have someone to ask?” 

“Uh…” I blinked. And thought. “I don’t know.” 

“You could ask Cuphead,” Cala suggested. 

My face immediately went deadpan. I gagged. “No.  _ Heavens  _ no.” The guy would probably drive me nuts. And then I’d try to drive him nuts. And then I’d probably end up back in a tree. Although as far as plotting went, he probably would be a good partner in crime. That had potential. Not as a date. But as a co-conspirator. 

I thought another moment. I felt comfortable with Finley. “Maybe I could ask Finley,” I said. 

Cala nodded. “That’ll work. But where are we going to go? If everyone comes, we could end up getting a lot of attention too, not just Mickey.” 

I hummed. “Leave it to me. I’ll find a good place.” I grinned at her. “I like to research.” 

I headed back after getting a bit tired. When I got home, I drifted to my room. Mickey wasn’t the only one who was avoiding something. I sat down and opened my most recent journal.

I’d glanced at the old entries once since Nightmare Night. It had been a little too much to see words I had zero recollection of written in my handwriting. 

But I needed to look. If only to know as much as I could. 

So, I sat down and started to read.

  
  
  


I need a little break. 

  
  
  


But I can do this.

  
  
  


My jaw dropped a little when I read about just up and walking to the Sykes warehouse. Self preservation? Who needs self preservation? I was hyped up on the dark forces of indestructibility. And then I read about the note I found there. 

A devil?

I thought Cuphead and Mugman were working for a devil? The thought sent a spike of fear through me. 

For multiple reasons. 

First of all, there was the fact that they’d helped me. And...this...More suspicions...I was so tired of them. I was starting to like those two. Cuphead is an idiot. But...a good idiot? A well-meaning idiot? Or was he well-meaning? 

And then there was Mugman. In all my interactions, positive and negative, he had been so kind, regardless of how polite I had been in return. I love how patient he is. He really is the more solid of the two. I probably would have even trusted him without reserve if it hadn’t been for some of the suspicious things I’ve seen. And his brother. 

Why are these two always a question mark?!? These stupid gaps in knowledge have been hounding me since the moment I heard the words ‘cup assassins’. Even their starfallen names cause questions! No wonder I went nuts and tried to kill them! They drive me nuts when I’m not riding the waves of oblivion!!!

Sigh. 

And then there was what happened with Cala after I set fire to the warehouse. 

I have to be honest here, I shudder. I’m so glad Cala had that pearl. 

So many things happened. I pretty much gaped when I read about taking the blood samples from Bendy and Cuphead. And the cells! 

Just what does that mean? Cells that can adapt to their environment, shape themselves, practically restructure the blood? 

Hmmm. That almost sounds like Cuphead’s hair. 

My impulse reaction to learning about these blood cells is to take it to Professor Oddswell immediately. But then I realized three problems. A) What I did was--obviously--highly ethically wrong. B) I would need their consent to look further into what these blood cells might mean anyways and C) Why does Cuphead have cells in him that look like demon blood? 

I have to tell them. 

Eventually.

When I have the energy to. 

Eventually...

In the near future.

Probably. 

Ok! I know! I will tell them. Don’t give me that look!

I just need to be emotionally prepared first!

I mean, how do you tell a) good friend and b) a deadly killer that you stuck a syringe in them? 

Argghhh!

I just want to go back to bed! 

Then, I neared the end. I was actually considering just closing the thing, burning it, and telling no one when I got to the page where I was in the study alone. 

...The blue fairy was dying. 

And then. The watch. 

I dropped the journal.

I turned to look at my bag. I’d honestly forgotten about it after hearing about Alice and Bendy going to Hat’s, something that would never have happened when my talent was working.

A chill ran down my spine. I’d felt almost drawn back to that building. Back to…

I stood up, shook out my bag, and jumped back when it rolled to my feet.

The metal was still smudged with black and it glinted a little bit in the light from the window. I stood there, waiting for something to happen. 

Then, I snorted and walked away. Of course nothing would happen if I just sat there. I needed to show this to someone else. Alice was gone at work. Cala was at Daisey’s. So...maybe that cat? Didn’t he know things about magic? Or was it history? Ugh. 

So I headed out. When I reached the front of Granny’s house, I felt a wave of tiredness hit me. I stopped. I frowned, winced, and then stepped back. Immediately, I felt more energy. Then I took a step towards the door again. My shoulders sagged with weight. 

There was something wrong here. 

I frowned.

Now, I was seriously worried. 

I knocked on the door. Granny opened it, and I stepped inside. Cuphead, Mugman were in the kitchen. Cuphead had the tallest pile of pancakes in front of him that I have ever seen. For a brief moment, I wondered how he even managed eat a stack that high at once. Then I realized the answer was obvious. He has a big mouth.

I blinked at the three of them. “Good morning.”

“Good morning dearie.” Granny smiled. “Have you already had breakfast?” 

“Mornin’.” Mugs waved. 

Cup half-heartedly waved, not looking from his pancakes. 

I nodded. “Yes. Thank you Granny.” 

I sat down. My eyes hurt a little. I fought a yawn. “...Um. Is the cat...Um what was his name again? Is he here?” I asked. 

Mugs and Cuphead gave me weird looks. Mugs perked up. “You mean Felix?” I nodded. “He’s not here right now.” 

My shoulders fell. 

“Cussing weird,” Cup muttered before sticking a fork full of pancake into his mouth. I eyed Cuphead. Well then, if Mr. Felix wasn’t here…

“Have any of you noticed something strange about the house?” I asked. “Something has me slightly concerned.”

“Concerning?” Mugs asked. “Like what?”

I looked at him. “The weight. Do you feel it when you come inside?” 

The brothers shared a look. “Not really,” Mugs told me. “I mean it’s been a bit deary around here. But with how the city is right now, it’s kinda expected isn’t it?” 

I couldn’t help it. My face flushed. “That’s not what I mean. It’s almost like a twist of the mind…” I trailed off as it hit me. Twist of the mind? What twisted the mind? 

My jaw dropped, and I stared at the table for a moment. “It’s could be messing with our heads,” I whispered.  

Cuphead sighed and put down his fork. “Okay, what’s goin’ on? You okay tree princess? You’re muttering to yourself now.” 

I thought and I thought and I thought. “Hasn’t everyone been a bit...relaxed lately?” I said slowly. “Alice and Bendy going to Hats after everything happened…?” 

“Maybe?” he furrowed his brows. “But everyone trusts Bendy and Alice. And Alice isn’t a pushover in a fight.” 

I looked between them. You two are some of the most suspicious people I know, I told them mentally. (In both the meanings of that sentence!) How are you not suspicious?

What was going on?

I continued to talk to them, trying to argue the little things I’d seen. Like the way they’d been tied up. How calm everyone had been talking about the Blue Fairy’s funeral. Finally, Bendy came down the stairs. 

Out of nowhere--and I still don’t understand this--he confirmed my theories. It was the cog. 

Things after that were a blur. Everyone was calling everyone else. I called Alice and told her something was wrong with the cog, which practically had her poof with Cala to the house. 

The group sat down and talked about the cog. Eventually, we came to the conclusion that we needed to find a way to seal its magic. 

And of course, the only people who had any idea how to do that were Alice, me, and that Mr. Felix. 

My stomach felt like I’d swallowed a burning coal. 

I really  _ really _ didn’t want to go  _ anywhere near  _ that cursed thing. Ever. Again. 

Of course, the brave adventurer was all set and ready to grab the thing and take it to the planetarium right that second. 

I’d rather have kissed Jeremy Fairfax full on the lips. 

This particular thought actually reminded me of something. While I had been out walking, coming back with Finley the day before, I’d seen a flyer for a fair outside of town. 

It was for Porcus. 

I’d gone to that fair a couple different times in the years I’d lived in Toon Town. It reminded me of the fairs at home. Usually they took up a couple city blocks in town...But with everything. They made me proud that they were still determined to have this year’s event. 

I looked at Bendy. He looked stressed. 

I felt stressed. 

Maybe I could help us both. 

I moved up next to him. “Well, if you need some distraction or a chance at relaxation, I actually wanted to invite you to go somewhere.” I tried to be casual. “Like we had planned an eternity ago.”

Bendy stared at me blankly.

For a moment, I wondered if this had been a bad idea. Then Bendy stood ramrod straight. “O-our date!” His voice cracked in a way that reminded me of Harold in puberty after particularly heavy rain.

The demon quickly cleared his throat, trying to regain a measure of his dignity. I struggled with a snicker. “Uh-uh, I mean, our date. Yeah, of course. I knew that.” 

Cup laughed out loud. It was a good thing too. Because if he hadn’t, Bendy would have heard me laughing. “Smooth spikes, smooth!” the cupman said.

Bendy tried to give him a withering glare while continuing to smile at me. It was an interesting expression. I’d like to draw it sometime. I don’t know if a human face could repeat it. Demons. Apparently gifted with emotion. Who knew?

“You have anywhere in mind?” Bendy looked at the ground, shoulders hunched, mouth pressed into an adorable pout.

That made me loose it. I laughed. “I do, actually. There’s a fair outside of town today. It would have been in town but...” I blew up the square where they usually set up. Literally. It was a summoning site for a monster. “But I think it’ll be even more fun out there.” Out away from the city. The long grass would be nice. 

Bendy smiled. “Okay, that sounds great.”

We took a taxi. It was Droopy. Enough said.

When we arrived at the grounds, the giant clock on the ferris wheel was nearly at the three hand. Which meant we were just in time. 

For the annual eating contest. 

Which made this situation almost even more perfect. Because I’d heard Bendy loved bacon soup. And this year’s entre was...you guessed it, bacon soup. 

I turned back to Bendy, smiling. “We’re just in time,” I said. 

He turned his wide awed eyes to me in confusion. “In time for what?” he asked. 

No time to waste. I grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the sign up tent. “So, this small town here is called Porcus,” I explained. “They are famous for their pig farms.” Almost there. “Can you guess what’s their theme for the fair?” I gave him a wink.

Pigs?” he guessed.

Close. “Nope. Bacon. And their bacon themed eating competition is just about to start. Which, I might add, includes bacon soup. ”

Bendy’s eyes widened to about twice their usual size, which is saying something. “B-B-bacon soup!” he gasped, looking like he might start drooling. It really unaged him too. He could have passed as an elementary school student at that moment. He grinned. “What are we waiting for?”

That made me laugh. Once we got inside the tent, I looked up and down the row. Not surprisingly, there were a lot of animals. Porcus locals. I even saw the legendary town hot head El Emenopio. Best steer clear of him. 

Unfortunately, it seemed fate is determined to cause trouble wherever we go, because, as I looked around, I realized...the only seats left were next to the bull. We  _ were _ late. 

And that’s where the trouble started. 

I should have known that letting Bendy sit next to the bull was a bad idea. One look between them, and I knew this wasn’t going to be a clean eating contest. Soup would be spilled in battle. 

Or at least that’s what I said in my head to comfort myself in hopes that something worse wouldn’t happen. “So, on a scale of one to ten, how ready are you for this?” I turned to ask Bendy.

After ignoring the look that had passed between him and the bull, Bendy licked his lips, looking at his bowl. “Are you kidding? I was born for this!” he said with a little chuckle.

The announcer explained the rules, and the first bowls were set in front of us. I’d never taken part in the eating contest before. So when I leaned over to smell the bowl, it’s rich meaty smell was a surprise. Wow. That was a good smell. I turned towards Bendy. “You know, I’ve never had bacon soup before. This is a bit exciting.”

“This will be an experience,” he agreed, already eating the food with his eyes.

The announcer called out the start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Hope you’re doing well! Holly makes me so excited for future things. She’s a gem of a character. XD Mercowe does such a good job. Hopefully Holly’s plans will lead to something. ;3


	84. Monday, November 14th (Part Two)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Since I fell behind posting last week, I decided to post two parts this week. Kia showing up surprised me. She's really adorable, and I love her. New characters are fun.

I lifted the bowl to my lips, drinking it, but not really trying to keep up with the rest of my competitors. Bendy however, seemed to be taking this contest far more seriously than I did. As I gulped tasty mouthful after tasty mouthful, enjoying the soup, Bendy had already downed two bowls.

I was far more interested in watching the other competitors.

I noticed an elephant on the other side of the table. He had his trunk in the soup. But like me, he didn’t seem to have all of his attention on the food. He looked around, his head bobbing cheerfully as if he were listening to music only he could hear. His ears flapped as he looked around.

Bendy and the bull seemed to be in a deadlock. They exchanged sharp glances every time a bowl went down. I’m pretty sure sparks flew each time as well. Bendy had on a competitive smirk on his mouth and that mischievous gleam in his eyes he got with Cup sometimes.

The elephant continued to bounce. His eyes landed on Bendy and the bull and he smiled wider. He was easily keeping up with both of them even without really paying attention as each bowl was set down.

Soup seemed to be going everywhere. A stork was trying to tip back a bowl to eat, but he couldn’t seem to stop staring at the rapid lift and chug that the bull and Bendy were throwing back. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t match their speed. I started on my second bowl, turning to count Bendy’s...eight. Where was he putting it all? Did demons have more than one stomach?

Well, this one did.

They continued to chug down the bowls. I started on my third, but I was wrinkling my nose. Too strong. The taste was too much after a bowl or two.

Suddenly, the bull slammed down his bowl, making everyone jump. A nearby elk snapped his head towards the animal, accidentally sending his own bowl flying into the face of a nearby sheep. The sheep sat there, his own bowl still in his hands as the elks fell down onto the table in front of him. Without meaning to, I snorted in laughter.

The sheep’s long tongue came out and he licked his face, a deadpan expression in his eyes. He turned towards the elk, a mischievous expression on his face.  

I stared. What was he going to...The next second, the sheep sent his bowl flying towards the elk, who gave a horrified honk before getting a face full and tipping back off his chair.

I started to laugh.

Someone tapped my shoulder.

Ooops. I’d gotten distracted...and disqualified. That was okay, though. This was much more fun to watch. Because the elk wasn’t taking the sheep’s fluffy, fake apologetic expression. Bendy seemed to be holding back a laugh himself, judging by the twitch of his lips as he continued to eat. He and the bull were still going intensely, lifting eating and slamming down bowls like they were factory machines. Bendy still smiled, satisfied like we were just at Granny’s having a good dinner.

The cheeky demon. Did he feel full at all?

The elk reached down and grabbed a complementary roll, drawing his elbow back to hurl it at the sheep. Unfortunately, his elbow hit the man next to him, causing that man to drop his bowl onto the dog next to him, who yelped and jumped onto the table.

I was in tears now. The stork had been disqualified. Suddenly, most of the contestants were using their soup for a much different type of battle than had ever been intended. I reminded me of the Candy District during Thanksgiving. Something like this always happened.

I’m not sure whether Bendy noticed though, because he was glaring at the bull. His tail was kinked, and he had his teeth clenched together. I frowned. What had happened?

I counted his bowls again. Sixteen.

The bull gave him a barely concealed smirk. “Oops,” he snorted, nose ring swinging. I looked around at the food filled air. The elephant seemed to be the only one who was still going. It was starting to wind down now, because the others had realized that Bendy, Emonopio, and the elephant were all who were still going. The elephant was frowning at the bull now.

“You can do it, Bendy!” I said. He honestly looked a little nauseated. But if he wanted to win, I would support him all the way.

Something funny happened then. The elephant was drinking, watching the other two, when a small mouse ran across the table, picking up dishes to clear off. The elephant’s eyes enlarged twice their regular size. He started to stand up and hit his head against a wood beam at the top of the tent. Then, he collapsed face-first down into his bowl of soup. I jumped back as all the food went an inch in the air before coming down again.

I turned back to Bendy. Twenty-five bowls. By all rights they both should be round as pumpkins! The bull moaned, lifting his bowl. Bendy smirked and lifted his own. “Well pal, this was fun,” Bendy said. Then he he took it in one gulp.

The bull stared at him, started to gag. And then fell back unconscious.

“And we have a winner!” the announcer crowed, leaping up onto the soup splattered table.

Bendy looked down at the fallen bull. “Ouch,” he muttered and then smiled.

I stood up, waiting to see if he _could_. “Are you sure you can get up after all that?” I asked.

He laughed and the two of us made our way out of the tent with the prize ham. It was huge.

We had just gone a few feet when the elephant pounced.

I blinked as the demon was lifted off his feet, his eyes wide with surprise. The elephant from before hugged him like he was a tiny doll won at a fair game. Bendy stiffened, his mouth in an obvious snarl of protest. “Small cat!” the elephant cried out. Small cat? Oh no, this was going to be hilarious. “I’m so happy to see you again!” he gushed. “And wow! You fight monsters, and you can out-eat El Emenopio, too! You’re a real superhero!” said, swinging Bendy in his iron grip as he continued to praise the demon.

“Yeah, great! Can’t breathe!” Bendy gasped. He really did look like a doll being held by such a big person. Best to never tell him that.

The elephant gasped, letting go, thus dropping Bendy straight to the ground. “Oh dear. I’m sorry. Sometimes I get too excited. Are you alright?”

I frowned at the elephant. He could be more careful. He’d just dropped Bendy! He was still recovering! Not to mention, you never knew what could bring on his attacks.

We talked with the elephant for a bit. To my surprise, when Bendy told him that he was a demon, he only blinked in aghast, looking concerned for a moment. Then, he seemed to shake it off and asked several other questions about Bendy being in the news.

I watched the elephant go afterwards. He knew Bendy. I wonder from where? I smiled at the retreating figure. “That was unexpected,” I commented.

“No kidding,” Bendy muttered, looking like he was a bit stiff from the encounter.

I had to smirk. Bendy. Had a fan? Bendy was always such a straightforward guy that it made me want to giggle a little.  “You realize this means you have a fan.”

Bendy made a face like I had just given him a bowl salt water to chug. “Oh stars, what strange world have I woken up to?” He shook his head, looking unsteady. “I think that’s more unbelievable than all the other weird I’ve dealt with so far.” The elephant really should have been more careful. Poor Bendy.

Well, poor Bendy, because now here was a perfect opportunity to fish for a little bait on a certain ship I was considering. “Even more than fighting a woman for a doll, befriending your assassins, or kissing a very ‘angelic’ woman?” I raised a brow.

Bendy choked on his metaphorical bowl of salt water. “WHA! WHA! WHAT! What do you mean by ‘kiss’!” Bendy’s jaw dropped, fangs showing, tail straight as a picket fence. Oh heavens. This demon did have it _bad_ for the angel. It made me just want to press my hands into my cheeks and squeal like a little girl. It was so adorable!

“That’s what they usually call it when one person puts their lips on another person’s, isn’t it? Cup told me,” I said with as straight of an expression as I could muster.

“T-t-told you what! ” Bendy said, yanking on the neck of his shirt a little, as if he were trying to cool down. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Oh, he didn’t, huh?

I shook my head. It was like Alice last night. “Well, at least both you and Alice have your stories straight. She said the same thing.”

Bendy paused, suddenly all ears...You get what I mean. “She did?” he choked a little on the words.

I raised a brow and considered my next move. Push it a little further? It was always fun to be direct. “Do you like Alice?”

Then, Bendy did choke. I laughed. “What! Wait, hold on!” he protested. His eyes hardened a bit. “We’re on a date! What is this about talking about another woman!”

And there it was. The infamous change of subject. Well, that was okay. The point of coming here was to have fun and relax, and the elephant had already stressed the poor thing. “What’s that to you anyway?” he said.

I shrugged. “Just wanted to know your true feelings.”

“M-my true feelings?” Bendy whispered. It was almost like he was afraid of them.

“Dating is about getting to know the other person, after all.” That’s what mother had told me. I think? Or was it father? Ugh.

“I...don’t really know. I’ve never thought about it,” Bendy said after a moment. That surprised me. With all his flirting, I’d expected that he knew exactly what he wanted in a date.

“Oh really? What do you think about when you think about dating, then?” We talked a little more about it and then moved to the ferris wheel. That made me happy. It had been a long while since I’d ridden in one. And then there was the other thing ridden in a while. I looked longingly at the race track as our car lifted into the air. I could practically feel the air rushing by. The movement of muscle underneath me. Riding was a beautiful thing.

Bendy leaned back in his seat. “I needed this. Thanks Holly.” He smiled and looked at me. “But I feel a bit bad. What about the stuff you love to do?”

That surprised me. I’d just taken it for granted that this was perfect for us both. I realized that I’d never really talked about it to him, so he wouldn’t know. The demon was cheeky. But thoughtful.

“Actually, when I found the fair I realized it was perfect,” I said, looking down at the booths and games. “All of this reminds me of home.” Although our fair usually ended up with more madness. I pointed at the race ground, sighing with longing again. “I used to ride.”

“Really?” Bendy look where I pointed. “I keep forgetting you aren’t from Toon Town. You just fit in so well there.” That did make sense. But his words made me start to think a little. The vaguest edges of a memory started to surface in my mind. “So, what do you miss the most?”

My father.

A memory started to curl a little more, becoming brighter. I could see the beginning of it in my mind’s eyes. My shoulders tensed. Wait. This was like my talent. A memory was being sent to my mind...from Connie?

I wasn’t sure. But it was as if time froze as the memory started to run.

I stared up at the ceiling of the cave. One hand was lolled out beside me, the other was behind my head. My father was looking up as well, next to me. He was quiet he stared at the shapes written on the ceiling. He pointed. “Looks like a fat turkey. Good for Thanksgiving,” he commented, the bit of wheat he was chewing between his teeth tickling my face as he turned to look at me.

“Hey,” I jerked back my face. “Quit it,” I said, my nose starting to itch. My father looked down at his piece of straw and back up at me again, a placid expression on his face.

But I knew better. He pulled it from his mouth. Before I could scramble away from the cave wall, he flicked it across my nose several times.

“Hey!” I repeated, covering my face. I stood up, sneezing several times. “That’s unfair!” My father’s bald head gleamed as he sat up, only the barest of smiles on his face.

I smirked at him. “Beware, oh father of mine. You know my weakness, but I know yours as well.”

He blinked. Calm consideration crossed his face. Dusting off his knees, he stood up. He paused for a second as he saw me draw the ice rune on a flat, palm sized rock. Then, expression still as placid as usual, he turned and bolted.

“Uh-Uh! You’re not getting away with that!” I challenged, chasing him with the icy stone.

I saw a bit of sweat form on the top of his head. He ran faster.

But, while he was well muscled, his muscles game from lifting bales and pushing his plow. Mine came from chasing Harold up the mountain.

With a burst of effort, I managed to grab the back of his shirt and drop the stone down it. My father yelped, jumping in place as he yanked at the sides of his shirt, trying to get the stone out. Unfortunately, his overalls made that next to impossible for him to do.

“Cold! Cold-cold-cold-cold-cold!”

I stood there, laughing as he pulled and pulled at his shirt until finally the hem got out. But that only made the stone slide the rest of the way down his back. Finally it got into a pant leg and dropped out the bottom. He sighed in relief and slumped onto a tree. “That was a dirty trick, Lee,” he said, a pout on his face.

The contrast between the expression and his wide, wrinkled face made me snort one last time. “Fair for fair, pops.”

He paused and nodded sagely. “Fair is fair,” he agreed. With that, the two of us went back inside the old ruin. I never knew what to call them. Ruin? Cave?

“Tell me how old you think the caves are again?” I asked as we lay down a second time.

He hummed. “Don't know. They look as old as the old Micco," he said in his deep, rough voice. "Maybe they had a little city here once. Maybe this used to be the mayor's house.”

I turned my head towards him. “Maybe that's why the people here are all zany. Because the place is so thick with their runes that everyone's born with magic in their blood,” I finished for him.

He chuckled. “You should be telling me, Lee. You remember better.”

We went silent for a moment. He rolled over, dropping his piece of straw. “Hey Lee,” he said softly. I perked up, lifting my head.

“Yeah, daddy?”

“I think you need to leave.”

I blinked at him and sat up. “Huh? What do you mean?” I paused, and he didn't answer. “You think mom needs some help with dinner?”

He got a sorry look. He sighed. “No, Lee. See, I think you should leave Aesop’s.”

I snorted and lay back down. “Why? It's the prettiest place in existence, and everything I love is here. I can learn about the runes from ordering books and from looking around here. Someday, I can help mom with mayor things.”

I paused. “It isn't your talent, is it?”

To explain, my father had a talent for...guessing at the future. Now, before you start musing about how useful that must have been, let me put it in context. I say he could guess at it, but there were a few rules. It's not like he knew exactly what was going to happen and when. It was more like he got a feeling of something that should be done and generally when to do it. And it could be for anyone.

And it's not like he could summon it. It came and went as it pleased, much like my father. Twenty percent of the time he would end up mistaking his own feelings for his talent. But the other eighty percent, he was spot on.

So, you can imagine my distress when he hesitated and nodded.

My eyes widened. “B-but what would I even do?!”

He hummed again. “You could go to one of those colleges,” he offered.

I got up and started to pace. My mind was a whirl. I loved Aesop’s Falls. Honestly, though I loved to visit other places like Uncle Popeye, I'd never had much of a desire to go anywhere else long term.

My father grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down. “Now, there's no need to panic, Lee. Take your time. When it feels right.”

That paused me, and I took a breath. “Why?”

He picked up the straw and set it back in his mouth. “Because even if you are happy here, you can be even more happy somewhere out there.”

I stared in blank aghast at him. “Why would I ever be happier out there when you and mom are here?” I asked. He shrugged, and I knew that was all I was going to get from him.

He sat up. He smiled. “Think on it, Lee. But for now, how about I teach you about poker?” he said with a small smile and a rub of his hands. “Remember I said I would?”

I raised an eyebrow.  “So, I can play Jack next week?”

He winked. “He needs a little humbling after trying to scare Nola.”

I considered that and nodded. Revenge for mother. Appropriate.

Just then, there was the crunch of feet outside of the cave. “Aspen Lee May.” It was my mother's voice. “Are you trying to teach our daughter how to cheat at poker again?”

We exchanged a look as she walked into the cave, riding gloves still on.

“...Yes?” Dad replied, looking at me with the barest spark of guilt in his eyes.

I turned shrugged. "Don't look at me. You're the one who told her she should come here at this time." 

I blinked as the popping feeling I always got in my head after a memory happened. I realized I was staring at Bendy. He was still smiling at me. I closed my mouth and hummed as I tried to think of what he’d just said. Was my talent coming back? I tried to summon a memory from yesterday, but nothing happened. “The ocean, I think,” I finally said. “And my Aunt Olive. Maybe her four nephews.” Today was such a strange day. It had been so long since I’d thought of _any_ of them. Now, I was thinking of Olive, Pipeye, Peepeye, Poopeye, Pupeye, Harold...my mother. I smiled at Bendy. “Just a little bit.”   

We continued to talk, but I was a little distracted. Long before I’d lost my talent, I’d been careful not to summon any memories specifically about dad. And this one had always been a particularly hard one.

Now, I had to wonder. Had he guessed at certain things? He wouldn't specifically know about Ink Illness or the machine, but...but...

I still wonder about what he said. I’m glad I am here now, but I don’t know about happiness. I love the people I’ve met here, but I’ve spent the last few months in such a strange place in my mind. Not sure of my purpose. Where I’m going. Even before the cog.

Now, I’ve lost my talent. Now, my magic seems to be gone...I’m even less sure of where to go and what my purpose is. I’m not even sure what help I could be to my friends here.

Where do I go from here?

Bendy and I talked for a bit more until the ferris wheel started to head back down. He looked out the window. “So, what do you want to do next?”

I looked out. Once again, the horse track stood out like a beacon. I couldn’t help but ask. “How does a ride around the course sound?”

Bendy agreed, and we headed over. As we approached the animals, I saw something like fear flash across Bendy’s face.

It was so unexpected that I stopped for a second.

“Actually, this may not be the best idea,” I admitted.

Bendy eyes widened before he blinked and glanced at the track with an indifferent easy going frown. “Worst we can do is try.” One of his shoulders went up in a shrug.

Being the tough guy, huh? Tough Bendy B. Brother. I smiled a little. “Okay,” I agreed and swung myself up into the horse’s saddle. I felt a little wobbly as the attendant opened the gate. It had been a while. As the horse started to wander a little, I realized that he also wasn’t a very well aggressive horse. I seemed to be used to wandering more than following commands. Docile to the point of boredom. I smiled. That would be perfect for Bendy if he didn’t like horses.

Bendy climbed up the mounting fence, hesitating a moment before clambering onto the next horse. This one had one the same bored expression as mine. But the moment it saw Bendy, it shifted, pressing against the other side of the paddock. It gave a warning whinny. I felt a little bad as Bendy lifted his hands in a calming manner. “Woah there, I just want an easygoing ride. That’s it.” Despite Bendy’s best efforts, a slightly disturbed expression remained on the animals face as it walked out of the paddock, treading on eggshells. “I can handle this,” Bendy said when I asked again if he wanted to do something else. His expression was tense, but determined. But then it softened as he awkwardly asked. “But just in case, how do you control these things?”

I laughed and explained to him how to use the reins. He was nervous and stiff about it all. His feet barely touched the stirrups even when they were shortened as far as they could go, which didn’t help either.

The horse struggled with each movement. I kept my eye on it, trying to get it to relax as Bendy made his attempts. I had to wonder why it was so nervous around Bendy.

After a little bit of coaxing, he seemed to get a feel of how to lead the horse, although the thing was still shivering underneath him. Was it cold? “How does it feel to be taller than everyone else?” I asked to try and distract him and the horse.   

Bendy really looked around for the first time. His tense expression melted to one of awe. “It’s one hell of a view,” he finally said, a tiny bit of surprise in his voice. “Wow, did you do this a lot growing up?” I grinned.

It had been one of my favorite things next to learning about runes. I led my horse next to his. “Yes. I especially loved racing. Sometimes, I would race the quadruplets down the beach. Other times, I would just wander. Although, with so many zanies around, my mother tried her best to keep me inside with her so I wouldn’t end up in the middle of some crazy scheme.”

The quadruplets were no better though. They listened to Bluto too often. After the first few times, they should have known better.

That made Bendy chuckle. “Oh, if she could see you now.” He smirked. To my shock, this made the horse jump a little and go for the fence. Bendy frowned, guiding it back. “Calm down. You’re doing fine.” The horse shook it’s neck nervously. That wasn’t a good sign. Maybe we should go back. When we got around the loop.

I asked Bendy about his mechanic work, and for a time, the atmosphere was relaxed. I could feel some of the weight of the past few days lifting. He again seemed to let down that wall and appear younger. His eyes were bright with memories, excitement, and even pride. Not the cocky looks he’d given the bull, but real pride that came with accomplishing things.

It made my heart warm. He needed more moments like this where he could smile. Heaven knew he deserved them. “Do you want to try going faster?” I asked.

He nodded. “Sure,” he said, a little uncertain.

“Okay. Just give this old fella a little bit more of a squeeze,” I said. “Not too much, though. And lean down to his neck when he goes, okay?”

We moved faster and faster. After a few moments, I could feel the air messing with my clothes and hair as it whipped by, my lazy horse grumbling as I urged her from a bumpy trot into a gallop.

Bendy started to laugh. My heart stopped when it turned into a surprised yelp. By the time I turned around, Bendy was already over the fence and landing in a pile of hay that surrounded the track, tail swinging in the air.

“Bendy!” I pulled my horse up short and directed it back towards where he had fallen. By the time I hopped the fence next to him, he was sitting up, coughing up straw. “Well, that was an experience!” he growled.

“Are you alright!” I scanned him up and down for injuries. Why did something bad always happen to this poor demon? What was with him? Was he cursed or something? “Did you break anything?” I asked, worried.

He waved me off and shook his head. “Of course not!” He pulled himself up and started to brush off the hay. “I’ve had to deal with way worse than a little toss. I’m fine.”

It was exactly the sort of brush off I’d expect from him, so I checked him over once again to be sure he was _really_ okay before relaxing. “Well, at least you got a chance to see how it feels like to be on a horse moving fast.” I shook my head at his horse. “That’s what I wanted to show you.”

Bendy seemed relieved that it was over “Thanks. That was fun. Sorry it ended so quickly.”

I smiled. “It was fun just watching you figure out how to ride.” I had practically been able to see the wheels working in his head. “And I figured if they were carnival horses they might be a little more placid.” Although, not placid enough apparently.

“You can go back and ride some more if you like. I don’t mind watching,” Bendy offered. “Or we can try some of the games.”

I looked back at my horse. I’d just been able to get her to the perfect speed as this had happened. If I could just go for a couple seconds… “Just once around.” I raised a finger. Because it had been so long. “Then, we go try the games.”

Bendy agreed, and I hopped back on the horse. As I moved faster and faster, I let my eyes close, just feeling the bump and shift of the animal beneath me. For a moment, I could smell the ocean. Salty. Fishy.

Then, a strange acidic smell drifted into my nose. I frowned and opened my eyes.

My heart dropped to my stomach as I saw Bendy curled up next to the fence.  

He was _dripping_.  

“Bendy?”

I’d never seen anything like it before. His horns had lost shape, and he was covered in more hay. Then, he let out a cough so weak and strained that it made me feel sick.

I jumped from my horse, stumbling and slipped through the middle of the fence. “Bendy!”

His hand was pawing uselessly at his bag, the joy rune lighting up. Several people nearby had stopped, turning to look at him in aghast horror. One man wrinkled his nose, gagging and turning away as he saw Bendy.

I had half a second to panic as more and more people stopped. But I had more important worries. What was Bendy trying to get?

Right!! Pills! His pills.

I grabbed the bag from him and dumped it onto the ground, snatching the bottle as it appeared. Yanking it open, I dumped out two and pressed them to his mouth.

I flinched when I touched his face.

The ink was cool, sticky. And his skin seem more…yielding than it should be. Like I could mold it.

He struggled to take it, writhing as he tried to suppress a muffled scream.

I wasn’t sure what to do. The horse track man came over. “W-What’s going on?” Bendy couldn’t seem to hear him. I ignored him.

“S-so-sorry,” he groaned.

I stared back down at him, and put an arm around him, ignoring the stares. Suddenly, I saw that elephant, Elliot, at the corner of my eye. He was staring too, but then he blinked, moving around and speaking to people, moving them away.

Thankful, I tried to concentrate on Bendy.

“Hush.” He was going to be okay, right?

He had his eyes squeezed shut, face twisted in a grimace of pain, ink running down his face and head in rivets. Every time he coughed, a mouthful of ink followed it. His body was a tight cord of tension, shaking, and twitching. His breathing sounded wet and harsh. He shook with groans and suppressed screams he fought to swallow. His rounded horns and the slick ink that covered them glinted in the lights.

He was going to be okay. He had to be okay. People had their attack and reformed. It wasn’t like catching a fever and getting weaker and weaker until you just were...gone. He was still fighting. Bendy was the cheeky demon. He could hold on!

“Concentrate on what’s important,” I told both him and myself. “You’re going to be okay. We’re going to go home.” If joy could help him, then reminders of what he cared about would too, right? “You’re going to see Boris. You and Alice are going to start making jokes. Cup will probably pull a prank on you.” All the normal everyday things that made life worth living, worth laughing about.

Bendy whimpered like a child. Somehow, that more than even the screams scared me. The attack was stealing his strength. His tough pride. Someone like him shouldn’t whimper.

The whimpering continued. It turned into a loud groan. Then a scream.

Tears formed in my eyes as I just sat there and held onto him tightly. This couldn’t happen. Please, dear heavens above, please let him be okay. Let him get better.

Please.

His screams continued, and I pressed my arm up and around his head, pressing him close.

I’m sorry, Bendy.

I’m so sorry.

Please be okay.

I realized after a time that the screaming had stopped. I’d closed my eyes. I looked down at him, gasping next to me. Quickly, I wiped the tears from my face, trying to clear my eyes so I could see him.

He was still breathing. He stared up, eyes glazed, shoulders rising and falling heavily.

“I...I’m okay,” he croaked.

My throat was too tight for me to speak, so I just hummed for a moment, trying to calm down. “Don’t push yourself,” I finally was able to say.

He gave a barely audible chuckle, but didn’t respond, laying there against me. I brushed at his face so he could see.

Thank heavens.

Finally, Bendy got up, still leaning on me.

“Sorry about that,” he muttered, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.

Sorry? There was nothing to apologize for. It was ludicrous. And he...he...I clenched my teeth. Instead, I leaned down to kiss him on the forehead. Thank heavens. I noticed Elliot standing nearby, eyes wide with worry. A cab was parked next to him. “I called a cab.”

Bendy made an exhausted sound. “Yeah. What a way to end a evening.”

“You’re still here. I consider this a great way to end it,” I argued.

Bendy snorted like what I’d said was ridiculous. “I’m not dying today! I have too much to do!” He stood up, a little unsteady and shifting his body stiffly.

“Exactly.” It was all I could say. I’d never realized how...violent…

Thank heavens.

Bendy offered his hand to me, which was ridiculous, because I was one-hundred percent sure that if I really wanted to I could yank on it a little and make him fall again.

Still, I took it and was surprised to find that I was exhausted as well. “Seems we’re both spent. Guess you’re right to head back,” Bendy commented. “Thanks for this, though. It was fun.”

At least I had that comfort.

With that, he got into Elliot’s cab and headed home. I passed out on the couch almost immediately, courtesy of the cog’s indirect influence on me. I tried to stay awake, because the idea it was messing with my head again disgusted and scared me, but I was simply too exhausted. It may have been for the best, though. Because when Alice and Felix woke me I was at least a bit coherent.

Since we had planned to take a look at the runes in the mural at the school, that’s where we headed.

When we arrived, I led the two of them to where the mural was.

It was so surreal, walking through the campus. It was more broken up than I remembered. The area around the library was only ashes. The rest of the school was still trashed, but at least it was still mostly whole. The statue of Yen Sid was gone. I looked around, wondering if Shelley was still working here.

Then, I remembered that she’d been working in the library.

So no. Unless she’d gotten a different place, she no longer had a job.

I shook off that thought as we arrived in the main study area. The mural still was in the center of the room. The light and glass from the window above landed on the runes and images below to make the most soothing scene. Alice gasped at the sight of it.

I hesitated and then took a step into it. It felt as if I’d been wrapped in a large, warm blanket. I let out a long sigh, a sort of rest that was different than the one I’d been forced to feel at the house coming to me.

“Amazing,” Alice said. “I didn’t think the Surface had meditation rooms like back home.”

Felix had knelt and ran his hand over one of runes on the floor. “You have these in the Upper?”

Alice nodded and stepped into the light. Her brows furrowed. “Something close. We have rooms of meditation to help everyone think and study with clear minds and easy hearts. But this one has a few mentions of the soul.” Alice frowned. “They aren’t angel runes, but they look similar here and there.” She pointed at two different images. One on the floor the other was from glass above.

The runes she was pointing at were variations of ‘Peace’ ‘Truth’ and ‘Reflection’. I’d looked them up. After all, I’d spent enough time in this room to know each and every one used here by heart.

“Micco runes. Ancient ones,” Felix stated. He hummed thoughtfully and pulled a notebook and pen from his bag.

“I was thinking that somehow this type of ‘Truth’ rune had something to do with me gaining back my mind for a moment,” I said, crouching down to brush the floor. It was late enough that only a few students were here. I watched them from where I was. This was bringing back more memories. Apparently today was the day for that.

I remembered the very first time I’d walked into this hall.

I had just moved into Toon Town. After bringing in my little bag of belongings to the new student dorms, I’d gone to look around the campus.

To be honest, my mood then had been something similar to what I was like right now. Full of trepidation. Uncertainty. My decision to come to Toon Town had been spurred on by my father’s advice.

Ironically, his passing had been what had finally given me to reason to do it. He’d told me. Then I’d waited...and waited...and waited. It was nearly year and a half after he’d told me. I was nearly nineteen. I’d arrived here, probably three months after his funeral.

And I was not ready for it at all.

I felt like a tiny insignificant thing in the midst of so many people. Like I could vanish at any moment and no one would notice.

Then, I’d seen the runes from the mural.

It was like I was back at home, like these were the little ruins outside of town. I didn’t have to be alone. And when I’d stepped underneath the light...I loved this place so much.

Anyways, I’m sorry I keep on wandering away from what’s happening. As you know, my mind is a little scrambled. It is ironic that in this point, where I’m uncertain again, when I don’t know what to do, that I ended up back under the mural again.

Felix had been talking. He had moved to the center of the mural and was looking up. I had missed half of what was going on.

“You think you can do that Alice?” Felix asked smiling up at the glass.

Alice nodded, her face brightening. “I think so. They’re a little different than what I’m used to. But as long as you have them there, I should be able to do the same.”

“Excellent.” Felix looked at her proudly before turning to me. He put his hands on his hips. “That will leave the placement and any changes to us. We’ll have to take the utmost care. We can’t leave any holes.”  

Utmost care. I should probably ask him what the applesauce he meant then.

“I’m sorry Felix. I got lost for a moment. Could you explain the placement to me again?” I said apologetically.

“We’ll be making a mini mural, but with the less complicated design that Alice uses at home. We’ll have to make some adjustments so it can contain, not just calm,” the cat explained patiently.

I nodded. Now it made sense why placement would be important. If I could just be present. And conscious. The calm here was putting me to sleep again.

The three of us talked over several different alterations we could use. Maybe the ‘Barrier’ rune or a variation on some anti-demon runes that Alice suggested that could be used as anti-magic instead when we replaced a few symbols.

That did make me curious. There were angel anti-demon runes. Did that mean there were Micco anti-demon runes too?

“Excuse me?” a female voice asked. I turned. A student in a sweater vest and thick glasses stood at the edge of the mural. She hugged her books in a death grip. She glanced at Alice and I before looking at Felix.

“Hello?” I responded after glancing at Felix myself. Why was she looking at him? Her eyes went to me and then him and then back to me in a double take. Her eyes widened in surprise.

...That was weird.

Her face darkened, and she appeared to be sinking behind her books.

“Can we help you?” Alice asked gently. She smiled at the student encouragingly. Her head turned to Alice. She seemed to relax a little at Alice’s open, warm smile.

“I, uh, I was j-just wondering if you were really Mr. Felix, a-and if I could get an autograph,” she mumbled and looked to her feet. “Not that I want to interrupt or anything.” I looked at Felix. Autograph? Well, he wrote books. I guess that meant his books were well known? I really needed to look at them.

Felix smiled. “No, no, it’s fine.” He approached her with his step and tone light with welcome. That was sweet. He seemed like a very patient person. I felt a spark of like for him. I wished I knew more about him.

“Th-thank you Mr. Felix! Oh! What an honor!” She fumbled to pull out another book from her side bag. “I’m studying ancient art and history. I’m hoping to work in the Museum of Archaeological Science and Discovery.”

I blinked, staring at her. It was like looking at me my first semester at school. I felt a pang of sadness. Then a small pang of jealousy. I’d had so many plans. Show the world how amazing runes were, going on archeological digs, maybe eventually teach.

What was I going to do now? 

I suddenly realized that I didn't want to be at Betty's shop forever. But then again, I hadn't even been going to work for over a week now.

“Oh really? Then, I might see you around more. I have given quite a few pieces to the museum.” Felix chuckled and opened her book.

“Oh! I know! The scroll of Elder Rin! The crest of King Shil-dai-na and so much more!” she gushed. “Um.” She glanced at me again, her wide grin falling a bit. That made me freeze a little, and I frowned. “Can I ask what you are doing here, Mr. Felix?” Alice gave her a confused look and then glanced at me questioningly.  

Was that look because of… I couldn’t think of a reason someone I didn’t know would know me unless...

“We are doing some research on ancient runes. This mural is a great example of what I’m looking for,” Felix said, fishing out a pen and writing without glancing up.

“R-really?” She looked a little taken aback. “Runes? Why?”

I smiled at her. “Runes can do amazing things.”

She flinched and looked at me fearfully. Oh it was definitely about Nightmare Night. I wondered if she had seen something herself. I hoped not. My smile went stiff.

Felix seemed to notice. “Is something wrong?”

She eyed me carefully like I was some wild tiger that had escaped its cage. “W-well, it’s just…” She glanced at Felix. “That’s Holly May right?”

“You don’t have to worry about me,” I said, forcing the smile to stick.

Felix frowned and looked back at me. “Yes, she is a good friend of mine.”

The girl’s eyes snapped to him, wide with surprise. “The witch Holly is a friend! How did that happen! She was kicked out of school because she cursed some guy, didn’t she?”

She was talking like I wasn’t even there. She hadn’t responded to a single thing I’d said.

The name made my stomach churn nauseously. And then the school...I felt my breathing start to get faster. It was hard to breathe. No. No panic attack right now. “I...I didn’t curse anyone.” Not then. The smile flickered. It was really hard to hold. Alice was next to me in a instant, an arm wrapped around my shoulders and warmth, magical warmth wrapped around me. It helped me breathe. Thank heavens. I squeezed her hand in thanks.

Felix frowned and shook his head. “I highly doubt such a thing. The Holly I know is nothing but kind and thoughtful. She had to leave school because she was being threatened and slandered by a former journalist of Toon Town Times. He’s in prison now.” It felt weird having someone I didn’t know talk about me as if he’d been there, but I was too distracted holding onto the warmth Alice was giving to think about it much.

The girl’s eyes went so wide they should have fallen out and rolled across the floor. If they had, I probably would have laughed, not knowing what else to do. It wouldn’t have helped my case.

“Oh! _Oh!”_ she gasped. She didn’t appear capable of words.

Felix though, still had more to say. “And she isn’t a witch. She works with runes. She studies ancient Micco runes. You should at least know I little about them if you are wanting to work at the museum.”

“They’re a huge part of history,” I said weakly.

She suddenly smacked her forehead. _“I am so sorry!”_ she said in a shrill tone. She cleared her throat roughly. She lifted a hand like she was trying to talk to a growling dog. She looked between Felix and me. “Really! I didn’t know! I am so sorry! Those rumors were so easy to believe after the last couple of weeks! I would never have--I mean, I don’t really know much about ancient runes. All my friends and upperclassmen said it’s dead magic, but I didn’t think it was something like that! I am so, so sorry! I hate bullying! I didn’t think _you_ were--Oh! I’m such a Dumb Dora!” She smacked the side of her again and squeezed her eyes shut. “And in front of Felix of all people!”

The words ‘dead magic’ made the corner of my eye twitch. And she didn’t think I was what? “You should look into them,” I said, trying to sound encouraging. “They can do nearly everything.” I waved at the mural. “For example, the mural helps students relax to study so they remember more.” I smiled.

Her shoulders dropped, and she looked on the verge of tears. “And look! You even turn out to be _real nice,_ and I just called you a _witch_ and accused you of cursing someone! Oh man, I knew college in the city was a bad idea!”

I reached out towards her hesitantly, putting a hand on her shoulder when she didn’t pull back. “It is _not_ a bad idea. You are doing a very important thing here.” The grin came easier now. I could talk about college. I believed in it. “And I’m really happy that another girl is getting interested in ancient history. The field needs more women. New perspectives. And I don’t blame you for anything you said. Terrible things happened during Nightmare Night. I’m just not the person I was that night.” 

She let out a harsh bark of a laugh. “You? You should have seen some of the other students! They were _nuts,_ and they claimed possession or some,” she glanced at Mr. Felix, “Stardust,” she whispered. The student did things and claimed they'd been possessed? “But I know they were not. They were breaking and stealing stuff just because they could.” She straightened up. “Oh!” Now, she glared at the floor. “Now, I’m mad. I have to do something! What can I do?” She fidgeted for only a second before she jumped. “Oh! I know! I have a friend that makes flyers!” I blinked uncomprehendingly. “I’ll take care of these rubbish rumors!”

I lifted a hand, my smile turning uncertain. “You really don’t have to do that.” Although I didn’t like those rumors circling, allowing her to circulate lies felt wrong.

“But you want to come back right!” she asked and then looked at Alice and Felix. “Or...maybe not.”

I blinked in surprise again. “To be honest, I haven't thought about it. The school made it pretty clear that I was finished here when I left,” I said. And things had been so hectic since then...

She shook her head quickly. “If it was over something like harassment, they can’t dismiss you! You’re the...well, victim not a word I like, so _target._ And if they try to bring up Nightmare Night, then I can just bring up all the damage other students that are still going here caused. You have just as much right to study here as me! And besides, you said it yourself! We need more women in our department of ancient history!”

I stared at her. I'd never. The possibility of coming back to the college hovered in front of me tantalizingly. I sucked in a breath. “It wasn’t harassment...Well it was, but that’s not why I was expelled. I broke school policy and gave out personal information I had access to as a part of my job…” Was I _arguing_ with her about whether I should go back to school? Heavens. What was the world coming to?? And was what she was saying really possible?

“Oh? To the Bbros? The heroes to the sick? To the _one guy_ on the _planet_ that was taking the sickness seriously? He also got fired for it? That incident?” She smirked. “Honestly, I’m not going to be surprised if they _beg_ the professor to come back to the university with a huge apology. You should get one too! You are like, one of the first people that actually... _Do you know the Bbros!”_ she shrieked again.

I nodded in mute fascination of this girl.

“Oh my _stars!”_ she squealed. “I’ve been following them ever since they were arrested! It’s amazing how much information people have missed! I mean, they didn’t even bring in the angel judges when Bendy broke Surface law. How weird is that?” She pulled a face like it should have been obvious. Well...that was true. Alice stiffened beside me. Her smile fell. “Not that that was a bad thing! I think Bendy is a great guy! And I’m really glad he was proven innocent.” She waved her hands, panicked.

She blinked and dropped her head with a groan. “I just came up for an autograph, and now I’m rambling and sticking my foot in my mouth! I’m so sorry!”

I stared at her for a moment and then started to laugh.

Felix chuckled. “You are very passionate about your hobbies.” Alice smiled. I nodded in agreement.

She lifted her head shyly. “Well...the news of today is the history of tomorrow. And if things like the Bbros, Professor Oddswell, or even you Holly--If you guys can be so easily misunderstood, then how much of _history_ is actually wrong and missing?” She shrugged. She had a point there. I’d wondered the same thing at certain points. “I’ve always wanted to make a big discovery that changes history as we know it.”

Felix shut the book and offered it to her. “That is quite the ambition. I wish you luck.”  

She smiled and took the book reverently. “Well, I can start with these horrible rumors.” She looked at me. “So that if or when you want to come back you can.” She grinned. “It’s a start on changing history. I’ll consider it a practice run.”

“I wish you luck as well,” I offered. “What was your name?”

“K-Kia,” she stuttered while she tried to but her book back in her bag.

I grinned at her. “Thanks, Kia. We should meet again sometime and talk about history.”

Her eyes lit up excitedly. She nodded. “Th-thank you! That would be great.”

“Kia! Are you coming or what?” a voice from a guy down the hall called.

“Coming!” Kia called over her shoulder.

She disappeared back down the hall.

“That was...odd. Do those misunderstanding happen often?” Alice asked.

“More than we’d like.” Felix sighed. “But I’m glad we cleared it up.”

I frowned at him. “Do they?”

“I have to make constant corrections about my research to others,” Felix said flatly.

I considered his answer and then decided that was a mountain to think about for another day.

We left the school and headed back towards the planetarium. I couldn’t put off the anxiety going there brought me anymore. The closer we got, the more it built up inside me.

“It’s okay Holly,” Alice said. “I won’t anything happen to you.” She rubbed my arm as she gave me a side hug.

I smiled and nodded at her, gripping her arm tightly. But the burning rock in my stomach wouldn’t go away, no matter how much I believed Alice.

We arrived at the planetarium. Still gripping Alice, I took in a deep breath. We slid out of the car.

Mugs smiled encouragingly as he picked up the cog from the back of the car and hefted the thing into the building. Felix followed, carrying the doll carefully in his hands.

Alice and I followed.

The inside of the building was dusty with papers and abandoned equipment scattered and broken in the halls. It smelled of old wood, chemicals, and mildew.

We headed to the basement.

Setting up the barrier to seal cog and doll ended up being surprisingly straightforward. Almost fun. It was a long room with a table in it’s center. Maybe it was once a conference room. There were a closet in one corner and a board on the wall. Mugman and Felix put the parts on the table. Mugs wished us luck and left.

We painted on the ceiling and rearranged a few things on the ground. Then, using a safe that Felix and Mugs had brought over earlier, we locked them inside, and cast the spell. Alice shivered and then there was a sound. Soft, almost imperceptible. It sounded like the breaking of glass.

“Are you okay?” I asked her.

She looked at me and Felix. “I could see it. Little threads snapping.” She rubbed her arms as goosebumps rose on her arms. “It was like they were alive. That was creepy.”

I turned and looked at the safe. Then, I shivered as well. “I’m glad it’s over.” I let out a sigh of relief.

“Do either of you feel strange?” Felix narrowed his eyes at the safe.

I turned to him and shook my head. “Just happy.” Although, maybe a little bit of weight seemed to have disappeared from my mind.

He shook his head. “I think I better call the house.” His voice had a tense edge to it. Alice looked at him in concern. He left the room quickly to get to a phone on the main level.

Alice glanced to me. “Why is he acting like that? I thought sealing it was a good thing.”

I shrugged slowly. “I’m not sure. Maybe he thought of something we didn’t?” The two of us followed him.

He was already on the phone. “Okay. That’s good to know. Thank you, Mrs. Gopher. I’m sure that it was the cog. Yes. Yes. We’ll be there when we can. Thank you. Good-bye.” He hung up and turned around. His eyes were puzzling but his face was concerned.

“Mr. Felix...are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes, Mr. Felix, what has your whiskers in a twist?” Alice asked.

Felix’ lip twitched. “A lot of things I was okay with I now feel suddenly worried about. It’s like locking that cog away flipped a switch in my head.” He frowned. “And I find that the most alarming.”

My eyes narrowed. So, it _had_ been affecting everyone. “You have all been acting strangely relaxed,” I said quietly. “I’ve thought it ever since I woke up.”

“But _why_ is that? Why would it affect us all like that?” Felix muttered. “It responds to people, so was it changing the mood of those around it for someone else to get captured? Then, why didn’t it do that to Mugman or myself when we touched it?” he muttered to himself quietly. I could see his mind working.

But who’s desire would it grant by making everyone relaxed?

Alice blinked. “I...hardly felt a change myself.”

I turned to her, frowning.

Felix looked to her as well. “Holly.” He addressed me. “Did you ever notice the change in your behavior or feelings?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t notice a thing.” My frown deepened. “Alice…”

She paled to an ashen tone, her eyes widened. “Are you implying what I think you are, Mr. Felix?”

“Did the cog ever show you things Holly? Give you something?” Felix turned glanced at me. “Before you started casting so many runes.”

“Well…” I said slowly. “Before anything changed in my mind, I stopped having a limit on my magic,” I said. I swallowed slowly, something clicking in my mind. I’d forgotten about it again.

The watch.

I leaned down to reach in my bag. “Also. This. This showed up at some point. Near the time everything fell apart, actually.” I pulled out the watch and carefully unwrapped it from the handkerchief. I looked at Alice. “Has anything unusual happened to you,” I said, suddenly suspicious. If the cog had targeted her next and she’d helped us with the runes, there was a chance we couldn’t trust the casting we’d just made.

She hugged herself with her shaky arms. “Me? It was me? I changed everyone’s feelings?” She shivered and swallowed.

“Alice, did you hear Holly?” Felix asked.

Alice jerked her head up and looked at Felix. She looked so lost and shaken. “I-I-I don’t know!” Tears brimmed in her eyes. “I mean, I’ve been feeling different ever since I got my halo back, but I thought was because some of choices I made!” She hugged herself again. “I-I’ve been feeling more comfortable around Bendy, but I thought it was because I was able to work my way through m-my problems!” A tear ran down her face. “What if it was just that _thing_ messing with me? What if I walk back into the house, a-and I can’t stand being in the same room as him!”

Felix’ eyes widened, and he stepped forward. “Woah Alice. Breathe. It’s okay.” He rubbed her back gently. “What’s all this about Bendy?”

Alice lifted an unsteady hand to brush the tear away. “Angels and demons o-oppose each other. It’s natural for angels to be repulsed by demon auras, but Bendy isn’t bad! He isn’t bloodthirsty or malicious! I shouldn’t feel afraid or on edge around him.” Her voice broke at the end. “And now everyone is worried because I forced some fake calm on them! That’s terrible!” She shook her head.

I frowned and reached out to grab her hand. “I don’t think that’s the sort of thing that the cog would change in you,” I started.

“If it gets to you by giving you what you want, then it would!” Alice argued and pulled away. “I just want everyone to be okay! I wanted to be able to be Bendy’s friend! I wanted to finally be able to use my--” She cut herself off by covering her mouth. Her shoulders were shaking as tears slipped over. “Oh! It was getting to me, wasn’t it?”

I nodded slowly. “I think your worries are coming out now,” I said softly.

“I think she’s right, Alice. Come here. Let’s go find a seat,” Felix said gently. His tail was lashing and twitching, though, giving away his own agitation. Everyone was on edge but me.

I needed to help. But how?

The three of us moved back upstairs to a room with a few couches, and we sat down. I wrapped an arm around Alice’s shoulders, giving it a squeeze as we sat down.

She was twisting one of her dark wave locks around her fingers again and again. She was staring off in the distance.

“Alice,” I coaxed. She blinked and glanced over at me.

I didn’t know what to say. “Do you like Bendy?” I asked slowly.

She stared at me uncomprehending. Felix though, straightened up in his seat, his eyes wide. “What?” he whispered.

“As a person,” I added quickly.

She frowned. “Of course I do. I’ve said it over and over. He is a wonderful person. If it weren’t for the aura, I wouldn’t think he was a demon.”

I took a deep breath. “Then what are you really worried about?”

“Not being able to help anymore because I make it difficult for him and I to be in a room together.” Alice pouted.

“Alice, even if you struggled with his aura, I know you. That would never stop you from helping. You care too much, and you’re far too good of a friend for that.” I raised a brow. “Would you let it stop you?”

Her face fell. “I’ve been getting so confused. I don’t know anymore! Normally no. No. I wouldn’t but um...How far do I go with this? Where do I draw the line for myself and getting involved?”

“Do you need to?” Felix asked. He took his hat off and placed it on the table.

“Just like demons have rules while being on the Surface, so do angels. We can help, but we aren’t supposed to interfere in certain events and especially people’s thoughts and feelings!” Alice explained.

“But you didn’t do that on purpose,” I said quickly. I suddenly realized that the others had been telling me that the entire time since what had happened. But, I’d continued to wallow. I frowned. I’d never realized...I needed to change. I needed to let it go.

“And I think this means it worked.” Felix sighed tiredly.

“Uh?” Alice rubbed at her nose and sniffed.

“If it was trying to attach to you and this is your reaction to breaking that link, then I think we succeeded. The parts are sealed.” Felix smiled.

“And you don’t have to worry about altering people’s emotions,” I said.

Alice sighed and slumped in her chair in dramatic relief. “You are right, Holly. Those things are scary.”

I nodded silently. Patting her arm, I looked at Felix. “I think we all just need to go home and rest now.”

“Good advice.” Felix nodded and grabbed his hat. “I think we’ve all earned some great night sleep.”

And so we went home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tap here!   
> That was intense. Poor Bendy. It’s somehow scarier watching ink illness then being the one suffering. A lot happens! The date, locking up the parts and the effect that has on everyone. I think it shook Alice up quite a bit. Things are never easy going in this city, are they? At least we know Holly is getting better, little by little. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Mercowe here.   
> Also, Ray drew this art of Holly and Snowball based off a tumbler post. I'm always afraid Snowball's going to float away...
> 
>  


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